Jilted
by cleotheo
Summary: Dumped on her wedding day, Hermione decides to head off on honeymoon to escape the inevitable gossip that she knows will come. While on holiday she encounters Draco and the pair embark on a passion filled affair. Is their romance just a holiday fling or will it continue once they have to return to their normal lives?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – As always this story is finished and in total it has ten chapters. Just as a warning for those who might not like it - there are a few chapters in the middle of the story that are quite racy, and there is a few mentions of sex throughout the story.**

* * *

In the small back room of a picturesque chapel, Hermione Granger stared at her reflection in the long floor length mirror, unsure of how she looked. Hermione was wearing a long, white wedding dress that was too old fashioned for her liking, but her future mother-in-law had begged her to wear the dress that was a family heirloom.

"You look lovely, Hermione." Molly Weasley, Hermione's future mother-in-law, gushed.

Hermione smiled weakly as she tried to hide the nerves that had been plaguing her all morning. In less than half an hour Hermione would be a Weasley and she was dismayed to find the thought made her feel queasy. If it wasn't for the fact it was her wedding day and she was due to head down the aisle in ten minutes, Hermione would be having serious second thoughts about marrying Ron Weasley.

Hermione did love Ron, but even she had to admit their relationship wasn't as fulfilling as it could be. To be honest Hermione thought they were only getting married because it was what was expected of them. Ever since they had become a couple, amid the end of the war, it seemed to be a forgone conclusion that they would get married and start a family.

The prospect of starting a family with Ron was something else that unnerved Hermione. Ron came from a pretty big family and Molly seemed convinced that all her children should provide her with multiple grandchildren, something Molly's daughter, Ginny and her husband Harry seemed more than happy to oblige her with. The couple were currently expecting their first child and they had made it clear they were planning on having plenty more children. Hermione did want children, but only a couple at most and certainly not yet. Hermione's career at the Ministry of Magic was taking off and she was already one of the most senior people in her department, despite still being in her mid-twenties.

Shaking her head to brush away her negative thoughts, Hermione turned around to look for Ginny, who was her bridesmaid. Hermione frowned when she realised she was all alone, sometime in the last few minutes Molly had left along with Ginny. Wondering where the other two witches had gone, Hermione began to head for the door to see if there was any sign of them outside. However, before she'd gotten halfway across the room the door opened and a sombre looking Molly and Ginny returned with Hermione's best friend, and Ron's best man, Harry Potter.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as Harry shut the door firmly behind him.

"Sit down, Hermione." Harry said, making sure his friend was sitting before he handed her a folded piece of parchment. "This arrived a few minutes ago. I'm sorry, Hermione."

Hermione unfolded the parchment and stared disbelieving at the scrawled message from Ron.

Harry, I can't do this. Tell Hermione, I'm sorry. Ron.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I've sent Fred and George to look for Ron." Molly said, reassuring Hermione that the wedding would go ahead. "I'm sure this is all a complete misunderstanding and we can sort everything out."

Hermione didn't respond to Molly, instead she blinked away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes and re-read the note from Ron. The more she read the note the angrier she became. Ron hadn't even had the guts to call of their wedding to her face, he had ended it with a quick note. And even then he hadn't even bothered to write to her, he'd sent the message to Harry and made him deliver the bad news.

Hermione re-read the note several times before crumpling it into a ball and throwing it into the nearby bin. Standing up she smoothed down her dress, before heading in the direction of the door.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Ginny called.

Hermione didn't reply as she stormed out of the room and disappeared from view. Harry, Molly and Ginny shared a worried look, before taking off after the bride. Spotting her dress disappearing round the corner they ran to catch up with Hermione and find out where she was going. Harry, Molly and Ginny followed Hermione all the way to the chapel, where everyone was waiting for the wedding to begin.

"What are you doing?" Harry grabbed hold of Hermione, just before she was about to enter the room.

"Letting people know they've wasted their time." Hermione replied, pulling out of Harry's grasp.

Before anyone could stop her, Hermione had pushed open the doors to the chapel and entered. Everyone present turned to stare at the bride, who was standing motionless at the back of the room.

"The wedding's off." Hermione announced, just before she pulled her wand from the thigh holster she was wearing and dissapparated with a loud crack.

At Hermione's announcement pandemonium reined in the small chapel and Molly had to quickly take charge. Once the guests had been sent off home, Molly gathered her family around to issue instructions. She sent a few of the boys to go and help the twins find Ron and she set everyone else on finding Hermione. Molly was determined that the day wouldn't be total disaster, and that Ron and Hermione would get the happy ever after they deserved.

* * *

Hermione landed in the centre of the honeymoon suite she had booked for her and Ron. The suite was in an expensive wizarding hotel and it was where they had planned on spending their wedding night, before leaving on their honeymoon the following morning. Hermione had visited the room earlier that morning and it contained all their luggage for the honeymoon, and the wedding night.

Summoning their large suitcase, Hermione dumped the contents onto the bed. Finding a pair of jeans and a top, Hermione practically tore her dress off and threw it to the floor. She then yanked her hair out of the neat hairstyle it was in, letting her wild curls free. Hermione wanted no reminder of the fact she should currently be getting married, not skulking around the honeymoon suite on her own.

As she grabbed the clothes off the bed, Hermione caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped what she was doing. Looking down at herself she grimaced at the sight of her sexy underwear. The lacy cream set barely covered her body and Hermione had worn them in the hope that they would get a positive reaction from Ron and maybe their wedding night would be a bit more exciting than their normal love life.

Sex with Ron was dull, and in Hermione's opinion their love life needed spicing up. In the early days of their relationship she felt it was understandable that the sex wasn't the best, after all they were both inexperienced when they got together. However, experience didn't bring about the excitement and passion that Hermione craved. Ron wasn't interested in trying anything new, the most adventurous he got was letting Hermione be on top, and even then it was only when he was tired and he wanted her to do the work. He also wasn't interested in doing anything outside of the bedroom, the couple of times they had started to get passionate in another part of the house he had insisted they move to the bedroom before things progressed.

Turning back to the bed, Hermione picked through the clothes, finding several more revealing lingerie sets. Hermione actually had a bucket load of sexy underwear for the honeymoon, in the hope that it would do something for Ron. She had tried sexy underwear before, to no avail, but this lot were a fair bit more revealing and she had been hoping they would do the trick and spice up their love life.

Not wanting to look at the skimpy lingerie any longer, Hermione pulled on her jeans and top and began stuffing her clothes into the suitcase. Anything that belonged to Ron she left behind, whether or not he got it back wasn't her concern. For nearly ten minutes Hermione packed her case, gathering everything up that she had in the suite. Hermione was just zipping the case up when there was a knock on the door and Ginny entered the room.

"There you are." Ginny said, sounding relieved. "We were worried about you."

"There was no need, I'm fine." Hermione replied, casting a lightweight charm on the suitcase before picking it up.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Ginny asked, picking the discarded wedding dress up and draping it over a chair.

"I'm leaving." Hermione answered. "I'm going to go and get my things from the flat, then I'm going to get out of your brother's life."

"Don't be like that, Hermione. Ron's just got cold feet, he'll come round." Ginny pleaded, not wanting to lose Hermione as a sister-in-law.

"I don't care if he does come round, he's blown it." Hermione scoffed. "Ron and I are finished."

Without saying another word, Hermione once again apparated away. Ginny stared at the spot where Hermione had been standing for a few minutes, at least this time she knew where to find her friend. Turning to leave, Ginny set off to get her mother and husband so they could talk some sense into Hermione, before she left Ron for good.

* * *

"Please just think about this, Hermione." Molly pleaded with Hermione as the brunette witch gathered her belongings and magically packed them into several cases.

After Ginny had spoken to Hermione she had rushed off and returned to Hermione and Ron's flat with Harry and Molly. When they arrived Hermione was already packing and she refused to stop as the three tried to talk her round.

"I have thought about it." Hermione told the older witch. "And I'm going."

"Where are you going to go?" Harry asked, knowing she had no family apart from the Weasley's. After the war the memory charm she had performed on her parents had proved irreversible, meaning they were still in Australia totally unaware they even had a daughter.

"I'll go to a hotel for tonight." Hermione shrugged, not bothered where she was going, just as long as she was nowhere near Ron. "I'll find somewhere permanent, when I return from Italy."

"Italy? You're still going on your honeymoon?" Harry asked, totally shocked by the idea.

"I paid a lot of money for the holiday, so yes, I'm still going." Hermione answered.

"You know, I could come with you." Ginny suggested. "I'm not sure you should be alone."

Harry shot his wife an annoyed look, before turning to Hermione to offer a better solution. "Or you could leave Ron's ticket and we could talk to him and he could follow you out there. Maybe then you'll sort everything out."

"Ron's made his position perfectly clear." Hermione snorted. "He doesn't want me and after today I want nothing more to do with him. He totally humiliated me today, leaving me like that was a horrible thing to do."

"At least give him a chance to explain." Molly cried, unhappy that Hermione was giving up on Ron. "I'm sure there's an innocent explanation. Please, leave his ticket."

"No." Hermione shook her head as she zipped up the last of her cases and gathered them together. "I'm not leaving Ron's ticket. I don't want him there, or anyone else. I want some time alone."

"So that's it?" Molly questioned as Hermione picked up her bags. "You're just walking out on your relationship with Ron. You're throwing away years of happiness, because of one little setback."

"Ron was the one who threw away our relationship." Hermione retorted. "He left me on our wedding day. I suggest you look at your precious son if you want someone to blame for this mess."

Molly looked stunned at Hermione's words, but before she had a chance to respond Hermione disappeared once again. For the third time that day Hermione had apparated away, only this time no-one chased after her, they finally left her alone to come to terms with what had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

After leaving her flat Hermione headed into the muggle world and booked into a hotel for the night. She'd deliberately picked a hotel in the muggle world as the only person likely to be able to find her would be Harry and she was hoping her friend would do as she wished and would leave her alone to deal with what had happened in her own way.

Dealing with being jilted however wasn't her first priority. Hermione knew that when she actually thought about what had happened she would break down and she wasn't going to let that happen until she was out of the country. Instead she dealt with sorting out somewhere to store her belongings while she was away. Luckily Hermione had booked into a hotel with a full concierge service and it was easy to sort somewhere to store her belongings, until she returned from her holiday.

Once everything was sorted with her belongings, Hermione ordered room service and settled down for a relaxing soak in the bath. She then pulled on a pair of her favourite pyjamas and curled up in bed, eventually falling into a fitful sleep in the early hours of the morning.

The following morning Hermione made sure she had everything before heading to the Ministry to catch her international pork key. As she walked across the atrium Hermione could feel people staring at her and she could hear the low murmur of gossip as she passed by. Less than twenty four hours had passed since she'd been jilted and Hermione was already the centre of attention.

With the gossip swirling around her, Hermione knew she had made the right decision in getting away from Wizarding London. The papers were probably already reporting on the disaster that was her wedding and Hermione knew not all the articles would be sympathetic towards her. Although Hermione couldn't quite decide if she would prefer the bitchy articles over the ones that would portray her as the victim that everyone should feel sorry for.

Since the war Hermione had endured a love/hate relationship with the press. She, Harry and Ron had been hailed as hero's after Voldemort's defeat but while Ron, and to a certain extent Harry, embraced the fame Hermione refused to speak to the press and act as though she was special. Because of her stance a handful of reporters had taken against Hermione and loved nothing better than to portray her as a cold, stuck up bitch who thought she was too good to deal with the press. Her seemingly cold nature was highlighted more by the fact Ron loved nothing more than making headlines and dealing with the media, and he often came across as the big hero while Hermione was his reserved girlfriend who shunned the spotlight.

Trying not to think about the press and their reaction to her break-up, Hermione walked through the Ministry with her head held high. She knew that yet again she was appearing cold and uncaring but she wasn't going to let anyone see how broken she was inside. With every minute that passed Hermione was finding it harder and harder not to break down and right now she just wanted to get to Italy, where she could be alone and deal with her broken heart.

Arriving in the portkey office, Hermione was dismayed to find Harry waiting for her. She just hoped her friend wasn't here to try and persuade her to leave Ron's ticket behind.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to bug you about Ron." Harry said, spotting the look of caution on Hermione's face. "I'm just here to see you off and check you're okay."

"I guess I'm as okay as I can be." Hermione replied.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry." Harry said, stepping forward and wrapping his friend in his arms. "I just can't believe he would do this to you."

"Neither can I." Hermione whispered. She knew she and Ron had their problems and she'd had more than her fair share of doubts herself but she'd never thought their relationship would end with her being jilted on her wedding day.

"Maybe when we find him we can get some answers." Harry sighed.

"You still haven't found him?" Hermione questioned, stepping out of Harry's embrace.

"No, he's vanished." Harry replied. "We have no idea where to look for him."

"I'm sure he'll turn up, but he's not my problem anymore." Hermione shrugged. "Sorry to rush Harry, but my portkey is about to leave."

"Of course." Harry said, steeping to the side so that Hermione could sign the register and collect her portkey. "Have a nice time, Hermione."

"Thanks Harry." Hermione smiled as she picked up her portkey that was a deep blue bottle. "See you in a few weeks."

Harry waved at Hermione and smiled before the portkey activated and she was whisked away. The journey took a few minutes and when Hermione landed she felt slightly queasy. Taking a few minutes to compose herself she looked around the luxurious office complex she had landed in.

The office complex was the headquarters for Island Paradiso, the exclusive resort where Hermione had booked her honeymoon. Island Paradiso was a private island that boasted a five star luxury hotel and several private villas. Hermione had booked one of the villas and had been looking forward to spending some alone time with Ron. Only guests could access the island and the villas all had several privacy charms in place, meaning you could be completely alone unless you choose to visit the main hotel and use its facilities.

Ron hadn't been too impressed with Hermione's choice of honeymoon but Hermione suspected it was more to do with the owner than the actual place itself. Initially Ron had loved the idea of the private villa on an exotic island, until he'd spotted the name of the owner and suddenly he was less keen to visit. The island was owned by Blaise Zabini, a former Slytherin they went to school with, and the hotel was his brainchild and Hermione knew he was heavily involved in the day to day running of the place.

Despite Ron's complaining Hermione had gone ahead and booked one of the villas, telling Ron they need never see Blaise if he was such a major problem. As she looked around the office, decorated in various shades of yellows and oranges, she decided she'd made the right choice. If the office was this luxurious she could only imagine what the island itself was like.

"Hello and welcome to Island Paradiso." The witch behind the desk smiled when Hermione made her way over to the check-in desk.

"Hi, I've got a booking for ten days." Hermione said, handing over her ticket to the exclusive island. "It was booked under the name Granger."

The witch nodded and waved her wand across several bits of parchment. "Ah yes. Miss Granger booking for Mr and Mrs Weasley, in the east villa for ten days. And you've upgraded to the honeymoon package."

"That's correct." Hermione said, wincing at the mention of Ron.

"Okay Mrs Weasley, if you'd like to leave your luggage we'll transport it across to the villa." The woman smiled, summoning a house elf and directing him to Hermione's bag. "And is Mr Weasley here? I need to explain how the island works."

"No Mr Weasley isn't here and for the record, I'm not Mrs Weasley. I'm still Miss Granger."

The witch looked confused for a minute but her eyes widened and she looked at Hermione in sympathy as she caught onto what had happened. "I'm very sorry."

"So am I." Hermione said quietly. "Now you were going to explain about the island."

"Yes." The witch nodded, regaining her professionalism. "As you know you can't get across to the island without your pre-booked ticket. You're free to come and go from the island as you wish, but you need a special wristband. If you want to leave you put the band on and it will transport you to the office here, from here you can explore the mainland and when you want to return to the island you merely come back to the office and the band will take you back to your villa. And of course despite being booked into the villa you have full access to the hotel and all of its facilities."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled. "And the villa is fully stocked, so I don't have to leave if I don't want."

"Of course, but if there's anything missing feel free to call our elves. They'll provide you with anything you're missing." The witch replied. "And of course I want to point out that our elves are free and are paid for their services."

"I know." Hermione chuckled. "I checked it out before booking. I would never have booked up if the elves weren't treated according to the new laws."

"I can assure you our elves are treated a lot better than even the new laws states." The witch answered. "Mr Zabini is very big of elf welfare."

"So I read." Hermione said.

"Anyway, here's your wristband." The witch said, handing Hermione a gold wristband that looked more like a bangle. "It'll take you over to the villa when you're ready."

"How?" Hermione asked as she slipped the band on her wrist.

"You press the band against your pulse point when you're ready to leave and it transports you to the villa." The witch replied. "Have a nice holiday."

Hermione smiled at the witch before pressing the band against her wrist and disappearing with a small pop. Hermione reappeared in the centre of a large front room, which had big windows revealing a lovely stretch of private beach. Hermione took a good look at the sparkling, blue water and golden sand, before setting out to explore the rest of the villa.

Apart from the large front room there was a kitchen, a dining room and a smaller living space downstairs. At the back of the villa was a large heart shaped pool, surrounded by an expanse of lush, green grass with several sun loungers placed on it. A short way from the pool was a patch of wooden decking with a table and a couple of chairs on it. In the middle of the decking was a large sunken Jacuzzi that Hermione vowed to try out later.

After exploring the downstairs part of the villa, Hermione headed upstairs. Because the villa was designed for a couple there was only the one enormous bedroom with a massive en-suite bathroom. The bedroom was decorated in pale purple and the large four poster bed was covered in a beautiful amethyst spread. The bed was also sprinkled with lilac and white rose petals and beside the bed sat an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne, two champagne flutes and a box of chocolates.

Turning away from the romantic extras, Hermione went to check out the en-suite bathroom. The bathroom was white and pale blue and was fitted out with exquisite glass and marble fittings. The glass shower in the corner was the biggest shower Hermione had ever seen and she was pleased to see the bathtub was nice and big as she loved a good soak. She also couldn't help but smile as she spotted the couple of shelves full of free toiletries, including dozens of bottles of expensive bath bubbles.

Hermione was extremely impressed with the villa and she knew she would have a nice peaceful time on the Italian island. However before the relaxing could begin, Hermione finally let herself think about the previous day and what had happened. Brushing the rose petals off the bed Hermione collapsed onto the silk sheets and for the first time she let herself cry.

She mainly cried for the relationship she had lost with Ron, not just the romantic one but their friendship as well. Hermione knew they would never recover from this and that their friendship was gone. Ron had been such a big part of her life since she was twelve years old and there was an awful lot for Hermione to mourn. While things weren't always great between them the good times outnumbered the bad by a long way and Hermione was now missing someone who had been a major part of her life. She was mourning her first love and best friend all rolled into one.

Hermione also cried for the future she had just lost. A few days ago Hermione knew exactly where her life was heading, and while it hadn't been a particularly exciting future, it had been a solid one and Hermione knew she would have been content with her life. Now here she was in a honeymoon villa in Italy with no idea where her life was heading or what her future contained.


	3. Chapter 3

The second morning she woke up in the villa, Hermione decided to order in some food. For the last few days Hermione had been nibbling on the food in the villa as she spent her time curled up, crying over her broken relationship with Ron. Hermione still felt like crying but she'd spent the last two day doing that and she felt it was time she tried to pull herself together.

Hermione made herself a small breakfast from the food in the villa before spending the morning having a long, relaxing shower and pulling herself together. Once she was feeling more like her normal self, Hermione summoned one of the elves and ordered a bit of lunch. On the spur of the moment she also asked for the English papers, as she was curious as to what they were saying about the wedding.

Hermione took her lunch outside and sat in the sun as she wondered if she should look at the paper. So far it was sitting beside her untouched and Hermione was tempted to just leave well alone. Ordering the paper had been a spur of the moment decision and Hermione now didn't know if she wanted to see what the press had to say after all. Leaving the decision about the papers to later she finished her lunch and enjoyed relaxing in the sun.

Eventually Hermione's curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the paper. Taking a deep breath she slowly opened the paper, wondering if she would even find anything inside. Hermione didn't have to wait long for a mention of her wedding as on one of the early pages she came across a full colour picture of Ron alongside the headline; _Missing groom finally emerges from hiding._ The picture showed Ron kissing Lavender Brown, as he left her flat, and Hermione felt ill as she began to read the article.

The first part of the article rehashed her relationship with Ron and detailed the way their relationship had ended with him jilting her. The rest of the article was devoted to Ron and Lavender and the fact that according to sources the pair had been having an affair for months and that she was the reason behind him leaving Hermione.

Shutting the paper to rid herself of the sight of Ron and Lavender kissing, Hermione tried to take in what she had discovered. There was no way the kiss between Ron and Lavender was a friendly one, so there was no way her ex could claim nothing was happening. Her gut was telling her that Ron had been involved with Lavender for a while and that the article was right and she was the reason their wedding hadn't taken place. The night before the wedding Hermione had stayed with Harry and Ginny so there was every possibility that Ron had ran off to his mistress then and was only now just emerging from their little love nest.

Hermione sat thinking about Ron and Lavender for several minutes, all the time forcing herself not to cry. Once she was sure the tears were gone Hermione stood up and marched into the villa. She had cried her last over Ron Weasley and now she was determined to forget all about the cheating redhead and move on with her life. She still had another seven and a half days at the villa and she intended to make the most of her time and have some fun.

Grabbing her bag, she stuffed everything she would need inside and headed over to the hotel. She was planning on spending the afternoon using the spa facilities and later on she was going to get dressed up and go and have dinner at the onsite restaurant. She was done with moping around over her failed romance. It was time to show the world that Hermione Granger was a strong woman and it would take more than Ronald Weasley to break her.

* * *

In the main bar of his hotel, Blaise Zabini sat at the bar observing his guests and making sure everything was running smoothly. Blaise liked to take a hands on approach to his business and he made it a point to greet as many of his guests in person as he could, therefore ensuring he knew who everyone was. Blaise especially liked to make himself known to the single witches who visited the island and he'd had many a fun encounter with a guest. Blaise was currently eyeing up a redheaded American who was travelling with a few friends.

"I see you haven't changed, Blaise." A voice behind Blaise said in amusement.

Blaise turned and grinned as he came face to face with his best friend, Draco Malfoy. Draco had a permanent suite at the hotel, meaning he often popped up unannounced and surprised Blaise.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" Blaise asked, after greeting his friend and ordering him a drink. "I thought you were overseas checking on the family business."

"I was but I'm heading back home now. I thought I'd delay the boredom for a bit and call here on the way." Draco replied.

"I've told you before Draco, you need to get yourself a good woman." Blaise told his friend. "Maybe then heading home won't be boring."

"That's pretty ironic advice coming from the biggest bachelor I know." Draco chuckled. "You're not exactly the settling down sort yourself."

"But we're not talking about me." Blaise pointed out. "I'm quite happy here on my island, shagging a long line of beautiful witches. Whereas you could do with a nice, loyal witch to be waiting for you at home. Maybe then you wouldn't go wandering off so much and you could finally settle down and give your mother the grandchildren she keeps begging you for."

"My problem is, I'm too fussy." Draco sighed. "Most of the women I take to bed I wouldn't even contemplate getting serious with. They're all just after my money or want to brag about bedding a former Death Eater. "

"Then why do you take them to bed?" Blaise asked, curious about his friend's way with the female species.

Draco was an attractive man and from what Blaise could see he had the pick of any witch. However he seemed to gravitate towards the witches who fawned all over him and clearly weren't interested in getting to know the real him, witches who were quite happy to judge him from what they'd read about him.

"I like sex." Draco shrugged. "And more importantly any decent woman wouldn't be seen dead with me."

"That's not true." Blaise protested. "You're being too hard on yourself, Draco."

Draco shook his head as he took a large drink from his glass of firewhisky. "I'm not. Most people judge me based on the fact I have the mark. I haven't met one witch who's willing to look past that and get to know the real me. As I said they either want me because I'm rich, or they want to know they've been naughty and shagged a Death Eater."

"I'm sure there's someone out there who's willing to overlook your past and get to know the real you." Blaise said, feeling sorry for his friend. He'd never really been involved in the war so he really couldn't identify with the struggles Draco went through to prove he was a changed man and wanted nothing to do with the dark arts.

"Maybe, but I don't rate my chances of finding her." Draco snorted. "Knowing my luck she's probably already married."

"Speaking of being married, guess who's honeymooning in one of the villas?" Blaise asked, seizing the opportunity to change the subject.

"I don't know." Draco shrugged, not wanting to hear about some happy couple who were probably having the time of their lives in one of Blaise's luxury properties.

"Granger and Weasley." Blaise announced. "They've been here a couple of days so far, and they haven't ventured out of their villa as far as I know. Mind you if I was married to Granger, I wouldn't be rushing to leave a private villa in any hurry. I've got to admit I kind of envy Weasley, he's landed himself a stunner in Granger."

Draco nodded, agreeing fully with Blaise. The last time Draco had seen Hermione was shortly after the war when he thanked her, Potter and Weasley for speaking up for him and his mother and saving them from Azkaban. He'd also apologised for his past behaviour and Hermione had accepted the apology gracefully and agreed they could put the past behind them. Draco had been struck there and then by how lovely Hermione was, both in her looks and her personality. Of course she was with Ron and Draco had his reputation to rebuild so they went their separate ways and Draco had to settle for reading about her in the papers and admiring her from afar. He'd read about her engagement to the redhead, but he hadn't been aware that they had actually gotten married.

"Sorry, was it insensitive for me to mention Granger." Blaise winced, noticing Draco had gone quiet. Blaise knew that Draco had harboured some sort of feeling towards the feisty muggleborn, and he'd long suspected they ran deeper than his friend cared to admit.

"No." Draco shook his head and attempted to smile at Blaise. "It's not as if there was anything between us. I just happened to admire her from afar."

"If you say so." Blaise said, knowing better than to push Draco.

"I do say so, and I suggest we forget all about Granger and enjoy the night." Draco said. "Why don't we get another drink before dinner?"

Blaise nodded and turned round to order another two drinks. As he turned back round a movement at the door caught his eye and he watched as a stunning brunette entered the bar in a figure hugging sapphire dress. It took a moment for it to register with Blaise that the woman was Hermione Granger.

"Lucky bloody Weasel." Draco muttered, unable to tear his eyes away from Hermione and she headed for the other side of the bar.

"I second that." Blaise said, placing the drinks on the bar. "I'm going to go and play the genial host and say hello, are you coming?"

"Nah, I'll stay here." Draco shook his head. He really didn't fancy going and playing nice when Weasley was likely to show up anytime.

"Suit yourself." Blaise shrugged as he stood up and straightened himself out before heading around to the other side of the bar.

Draco watched the exchange with open curiosity as Blaise approached Hermione and the two chatted for a few minutes. Draco couldn't make out what was being said, but it looked like Blaise was consoling Hermione rather than congratulating her. After a few minutes of talking, Draco was shocked when Blaise began returning over to him with Hermione in tow.

"Draco, you don't mind if Hermione joins us for dinner, do you?" Blaise asked as he approached.

"Of course not." Draco replied. "But surely you'd rather eat with your husband, or is he also joining us?" He asked Hermione, curious as to why she was joining them.

"That would be a bit difficult seen as I don't have a husband." Hermione replied and Draco detected a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"Sorry, I thought Blaise said you were on your honeymoon." Draco said, shooting Blaise a filthy look for supplying him with false information.

"I am. I just didn't get married." Hermione shrugged. "Ron left me on our wedding day."

"I'm sorry." Draco told the brunette. "I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known."

"It's alright, you weren't to know that Ron left me for Lavender Brown." Hermione replied, causing both Draco and Blaise to look at her in shock.

"Weasley left you for another woman?" Blaise questioned.

"Apparently." Hermione answered. "Not that he bothered to tell me, all I got was a message from Harry saying he couldn't go through with the wedding."

"Selfish prick." Draco muttered.

Hermione smiled at Draco's sentiment before shaking her head to rid herself of thoughts of her ex. "Enough about Ron, I don't want to talk about him anymore. I want to have fun."

"Fun we can do." Blaise grinned. "I promise we'll help you forget all about your idiot of an ex."

Hermione smiled as she downed her drink. Having dinner with two former Slytherins wasn't what she'd had in mind when she'd left the villa, but it would certainly do for her first night of having fun and forgetting all about a certain redhead.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - This is where things get racy. This chapter and the next two are pretty steamy chapters. **

* * *

Hermione thoroughly enjoyed her meal with Blaise and Draco. The three of them laughed and talked together easily and Hermione was amazed by how relaxed the duo made her feel. Hermione and Draco had long since gotten over their past and Hermione had watched as the former Death Eater had totally reformed his image. These days he was primarily known as a savvy businessman who donated a lot of his time and money to charity, his dark past was rarely an issue any more.

Over the course of the meal Hermione found herself being increasingly drawn to Draco as she found they had plenty in common. Blaise was a perfectly nice bloke, albeit a bit too flirty for Hermione's liking, but it was Draco who captured Hermione's interest. Hermione got the impression that Draco was more genuine than Blaise and he seemed more interested in talking with Hermione than downright flirting with her like his friend.

As the night wore on and Hermione found herself getting more and more attracted to Draco, she found herself remembering the last time she had spoken to the blond. It had been just after the war and it was a brief meeting where he had thanked her, Harry and Ron for helping him in his trial and he also apologised for his past behaviour. At the time Hermione had felt a spark of attraction towards Draco but she had ignored it as she had been with Ron, but sitting talking to the blond right now she felt the spark reignite.

Once dinner was over the trio headed into the ballroom where they settled down with cocktails. As the room filled up Blaise constantly hopped up and down, playing the host and dancing with several women. His repeated absences left Hermione and Draco alone to talk and get to know one another better, not that Hermione was complaining as she was thoroughly enjoying herself flirting with the handsome blond.

"Would you like to dance?" Draco asked, gesturing at the floor where couples where whirling round the room.

"I'd love to, but I'm warning you now I'm not much of a dancer." Hermione replied.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you're great." Draco said, offering Hermione his hand.

Hermione took hold of Draco's hand and let the blond lead her onto the dance floor. Draco then pulled Hermione into his arms and she found herself pressed up against the blond as they began to move. Despite Hermione's warning the couple moved effortlessly together as they traversed the floor.

"I told you you'd be great." Draco purred in Hermione's ear.

Hermione shivered as Draco's hot breath hit her skin and she found herself edging closer to him. Draco's hand, which was on the small of her back, pulled Hermione even closer and her head fell to his shoulder. Slowly the couple inched nearer and nearer, until their bodies were flush against each other. Draco could feel every curve of Hermione pressed against him and Hermione could feel how toned Draco was.

"I think it's time I called it a night." Hermione declared as she reluctantly lifted her head and looked into Draco's stormy grey eyes.

"I'll walk you back to your villa." Draco offered.

"I'd like that." Hermione smiled.

Leaving the dance floor the couple found Blaise and said goodnight before venturing out into the cool night air. After checking which villa Hermione was staying in, Draco took hold of her hand and began leading the way to where she was staying.

"Do you want to come in?" Hermione asked as they reached her villa, the hidden message behind her words very clear to the blond man in front of her.

"Are you sure?" Draco questioned. As much as he wanted to stay with Hermione, he didn't want to take advantage of her when she was vulnerable.

"Yes. There's a bottle of unopened champagne we can enjoy." Hermione said, turning towards the villa and tugging Draco along behind her.

Hermione led the way into the kitchen where she pulled the champagne from the fridge and handed it to Draco while she got two glasses. Grabbing the glasses, Hermione followed Draco out into the back garden where the blond was opening the champagne beside the Jacuzzi.

"Nice Jacuzzi, is it any good?" Draco asked, pouring the champagne into two glasses and placing the rest of the bottle on the table.

"I don't know, I haven't tried it yet." Hermione replied.

"Do you fancy trying it now?" Draco asked.

"Sure, but you don't have any swimwear."

Draco grinned wickedly at Hermione as he brandished his wand and started the Jacuzzi. "Who needs swimwear?"

"Are you suggesting we go naked?" Hermione asked with wide eyes.

Draco nodded as he began to unbutton his shirt. "Come on Granger, live a little."

Hermione smiled as she watched Draco getting undressed. After his shirt was off, revealing a very good physique, he pulled off his shoes and socks. After unbuckling his belt and undoing his trousers he paused and double checked Hermione was up for continuing.

"Carry on." Hermione said, eager to see what Draco was like completely naked.

Draco shot Hermione another wicked smile before pulling his trousers down his legs and kicking them away. His boxers had also come off with his trousers and when he stood back up straight Hermione got an eyeful of his impressive manhood. Seemingly unconcerned by his nakedness Draco stood for several minutes as Hermione thoroughly checked him out.

"Are you joining me?" Draco asked as he picked up the two champagne glasses and carried them over to the Jacuzzi. Placing the glasses on the side of the tub he stepped into the bubbles and settled down facing Hermione.

Hermione summoned all her courage before kicking off her heels and reaching round for the zipper on her dress. Pulling the zipper down she wriggled out of the tight material, leaving her in a skimpy pair of navy knickers and matching bra. Hermione could feel Draco's eyes scanning over her body as she unclipped her bra and let it tumble to the floor. Quickly shedding her knickers she hurried over to the tub and sunk into the bubbles, hoping Draco wasn't too disappointed with what he had seen.

Handing Hermione her champagne, Draco slid closer to the brunette witch and the pair happily chatted for a while. When they'd drained their glasses Draco casually hopped out of the Jacuzzi and grabbed the bottle of champagne, before coming back to join Hermione.

"You're really not shy are you?" Hermione chuckled as the blond refilled her glass.

"Why would I be shy?" Draco shrugged. "I've got nothing to be ashamed about, I'm really rather pleased with my body."

"I wish I was that confident." Hermione sighed.

"You should be, you're gorgeous." Draco said, placing his glass on the side and removing Hermione's from her hand. "You've got the most amazing body."

Hermione smiled shyly as Draco cupped her cheek in his hand and brought her head closer to him. Slowly he leant forward and pressed his lips gently against hers. Hermione's arm came around and wrapped round Draco's neck as she kissed the blond back. When Draco's tongue entered her mouth Hermione whimpered softly as he proceeded to give her the best kiss she had ever experienced.

All too soon the kiss was ending, but it was only the first of many that night. Within seconds of separating the couple's lips were glued back together in a decidedly more heated kiss. As the kissing continued, Hermione was aware of Draco's hand dropping from her face and venturing under the water. A soft moan escaped her lips as she felt his hand descend on her breasts and his fingers brushed ever so softly over her nipples.

Draco smiled at Hermione's sounds of pleasure and while one hand explored her glorious breasts the other hand settled on her thigh. Slowly he worked the hand up her smooth skin, venturing nearer to her hot centre with every stroke. Hermione's legs opened slightly as his hand got higher and when his fingers brushed against her womanhood both Draco and Hermione released moans of contentment.

As he continued to touch her, Hermione was vaguely aware that Draco had stopped kissing her and was brushing his lips along her jawline and down her throat. Tilting her head back to give him better access Hermione shut her eyes as she lost herself in the blond's surprisingly gentle touch. All of a sudden Draco's hands stopped touching her and Hermione's eyes flew open. Before she had a chance to question what was wrong Draco had grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap.

Hermione moaned loudly as Draco settled her right over her straining erection. While he didn't enter her, he was pressed right against her and Hermione could only imagine the pleasure she would receive if he was inside her. Hermione instinctively rolled her hips against Draco, causing the blond to groan loudly as his eyes shut briefly. Before she had a chance to explore her new found power over the blond, Draco placed his hands on her hips and stilled her movements.

"Later." He grinned up at her. "Right now, I want to see what it takes to make you scream my name."

Hermione blushed at Draco's words, she wasn't used to Ron being so vocal when they had sex and she didn't know how to react. Draco didn't seem to require an answer as he merely chuckled, before surging forward and capturing one of Hermione's breasts in his mouth. It wasn't until Draco touched her that Hermione even realised her top half was above the water and her first instinct was to try and move back under the water. Moving wasn't possible as Draco was holding her firmly in place, but luckily Hermione's shyness was put on the back burner as Draco nipped and licked at her breasts.

Draco's actions soon had Hermione whimpering and moaning and when his right hand slipped from her hip and dipped in between her legs the noises grew louder. Hermione clung onto Draco tightly as his fingers danced across her centre and she felt the tension building in her with every stroke. Draco slowly worked her up into a quivering mess and just when Hermione thought she could take it no more he pressed his thumb firmly against her clit and she fell apart, screaming his name into the night sky.

"You're very responsive, I like it." Draco remarked as Hermione collapsed against him.

Hermione smiled to herself and contemplated telling Draco that she never came as fast in her life. Normally it took her a long time to get so aroused, but with Draco she'd been raring to go almost as soon as they entered the Jacuzzi. In fact she was still up for more action, and luckily it seemed as though Draco was also keen to carry on.

Draco had barely given Hermione a chance to recover as his lips covered hers and his hands explored the soft skin of her torso and breasts. Hermione moaned softly as she rocked her hips against Draco's erection, wishing he was buried inside her already. Draco's line of thought was going in the same direction, but instead of burying himself in Hermione he grabbed her and flipped her round so she was sitting on the edge of the Jacuzzi.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest at being so exposed, but Draco reached up and connected their lips again. As they were kissing Draco slowly manoeuvred Hermione so she was lying on her back on the wooden decking. With Draco hovering over her, Hermione didn't feel quite as exposed and she was suddenly much more comfortable with what was happening.

"Are you sure about this?" Draco asked, looking down at Hermione. "I don't want you to regret this."

Hermione nodded as she wrapped her arm around Draco's neck and brought his head down to hers. "I want this." She said, before connecting their lips.

Satisfied Hermione knew what she was doing and wouldn't regret anything, Draco concentrated his attention on her naked body. One of his hands fell back to her breasts, while the other one spread her legs as he positioned himself at her entrance. Draco gave Hermione a searing kiss before thrusting into her, producing identical moans from the couple.

Draco stilled momentarily before he began to move. Draco's pace was fast and furious from the start and Hermione moved against him in perfect sync. Hermione moaned wantonly when Draco slung her leg over his shoulder, enabling him to enter her at a deeper angle. With every thrust Hermione felt her climax building and once again she was struck by how fast it was approaching. Ron had never gotten her off so quickly, but then again Ron had never shagged her as fast and hard as what Draco was doing.

"God, Draco." Hermione moaned, clutching onto the blond on top of her. "I'm so close."

"Me too." Draco panted.

A few hard thrusts later, Hermione screamed her climax as she arched up against Draco. Draco followed shortly after Hermione, moaning her name as he collapsed on top of her. Totally exhausted the couple lay curled around each other as they caught their breath.

"That was amazing." Draco muttered, placing soft kisses on Hermione's neck and shoulder.

Hermione silently agreed as she ran her fingers through Draco's soft hair. That was the sort of passionate, exhilarating sex she had been fantasizing about for months.

"I think it's time to get up." Hermione said as she regained feeling in her tired body. "This decking is hard on my back."

"Sorry." Draco quickly moved off Hermione and jumped up, before offering her his hand.

Hermione took hold of Draco's hand and let him pull her to her feet. The second she was standing Draco pulled her into his arms and the couple shared a quick kiss.

"You don't have to leave do you?" Hermione asked quietly, hoping Draco wasn't about to flee now he'd had a bit of action.

"I'm not going anywhere." Draco grinned down at Hermione. "I'm all yours, until you get sick of me."

"I'm not sure that's likely to happen any time soon." Hermione chuckled.

"Good, because I'm pretty sure these villas have lovely big beds and I'm dying to get you into one." Draco smirked.

Hermione blushed as Draco's grey eyes flicked over her body and she felt him beginning to harden against her stomach. She was surprised that he was already up for the next round, but she was having so much fun she wasn't going to refuse to be taken to bed by the sexy blond.

"Let's go inside." She said, pulling out of Draco's arms and turning towards the villa.

Holding onto Draco's hand, Hermione led the way into the villa and up to the bedroom. At the sight of the enormous bed, Draco grinned wickedly at Hermione before they fell into bed and made good use of it for the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

When Hermione awoke the following morning the events of the previous night were at the forefront of her mind. She'd never had as much sex in such a short period of time and her body felt slightly sore at the workout in had endured the previous night. Then there was the fact she was still naked and she wasn't alone in bed to deal with.

Hermione could feel Draco's steady breath on the back of her neck while his arm was flung over her waist with his hand cupping her breast. Hermione could also feel he was pressed right up against her and she was slightly worried about moving. She didn't regret her night of passion with the blond but in the cold light of day she was afraid Draco would regret bedding a muggleborn.

Moments later when Hermione felt Draco began to stir, she held her breath as she waited for the blond to react to being in her bed. Hermione's worries of him regretting his actions appeared to be unfounded as Draco nuzzled at Hermione's neck and gently squeezed her breast.

"Morning." He muttered, trailing his lips along Hermione's neck.

Hermione smiled as she turned her head to look at the blond. "Morning."

Draco smiled back at Hermione before connecting their lips. Despite the awkward angle the kiss was still pretty heated and Hermione found herself disappointed when Draco pulled back.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Draco grinned. "I meant to check you were okay with everything before I did that."

"Why wouldn't I be okay with everything?" Hermione questioned as she rolled over to face Draco, all the while making sure she was covered with the sheet from the bed.

"I was just checking you didn't regret last night." Draco replied. "I know part of the reason you did what you did was a rebound thing regarding Weasley. Before anything else happens, I just want to know that you really want this. I'll understand if last night was a one off for you and you never want to speak of it again."

"I don't want last night to be a one off." Hermione admitted. "I have no idea what I do want, but I was hoping we could have a bit more fun before either one of us leaves."

"I'm definitely up for more fun." Draco grinned. "And since I have no plans to be leaving anytime soon, maybe we could spend some time together."

"I'd like that, but what about Blaise? Did you not come here to see him?"

Draco sighed as he shook his head. "No, I came because I didn't want to go home to an empty flat. I spend most of my time travelling so I don't have to deal with my lonely life back at home. I can see Blaise anytime, beside during the day he's too busy with the hotel to keep me entertained."

"I'm sure I could keep you entertained." Hermione smiled shyly, despite her bold statement.

"I'm sure you can." Draco chuckled.

"I was planning on heading over to the mainland today, maybe you could come with me." Hermione suggested, not sure if Draco wanted to spend time with her when they weren't shagging.

"I'd like that." Draco replied. "I've been here quite a few times and I could show you all the sights."

"I guess that means we should get up." Hermione said, unsure of what was going to happen now.

"I guess it does." Draco agreed. "I've got to go and get changed, why don't you get ready and I'll meet you in the breakfast room at the hotel."

Hermione eagerly agreed and after a lingering kiss Draco hoped out of the bed. Since all their clothes from the previous night were still down by the Jacuzzi, Draco had nothing to put on but his nakedness didn't seem to bother him. After giving Hermione another quick kiss he left the room, promising to see Hermione soon.

Draco had barely left the bedroom before Hermione was out of bed and flying towards the shower. She had a sneaking suspicion that more sex with Draco was on the agenda for later on and she was eager to get to it. Hermione had never been so eager for sex before, but she couldn't help but look forward to what she would do with Draco. Maybe now she would finally get the wild, uninhibited sex she'd always longed for.

After her shower Hermione found a set of lacy cream underwear and a short light blue dress. After pulling her clothes on she did her hair and make-up before slipping into a pair of sandals and grabbing her bag. Once she was sure she had everything Hermione left the villa and headed over to the hotel for breakfast.

The minute she entered the breakfast room Hermione was approached by a grinning Blaise. After a quick hello Blaise ushered Hermione to a table where he promptly settled down opposite her.

"Now why are you alone?" Blaise questioned. "I didn't expect to see either you or Draco for days, and I certainly didn't expect you to be eating alone the morning after leaving with him."

"Draco's joining me for breakfast." Hermione told Blaise. "He'll be here any minute."

"I take it that means last night went well." Blaise grinned.

"That is private." Hermione responded, although she figured her large grin gave away exactly how well the previous night went.

"Of course it is, and I would never dream of prying." Blaise said. Spotting Draco entering the room out of the corner of his eye he stood up as his best friend arrived at the table. "I'll leave you two alone now, enjoy the rest of your holiday."

"Blaise wasn't bothering you, was he?" Draco questioned as he sat down after Blaise had departed. "He does have a tendency to stick his nose where it doesn't belong."

"No, he wasn't bothering me." Hermione smiled. "I think he was just curious about us and what had happened last night."

"Nosey git." Draco muttered.

Hermione chuckled at Draco before changing the subject to what they were doing that day. Over breakfast Draco told Hermione his plans for the day and checked she was okay with placing their plans in his hands. Hermione was more than happy for Draco to take charge of their day and she told him such, causing the blond to grin mischievously at her.

After breakfast Draco and Hermione made their way to the lobby of the hotel. Draco grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and using his wristband he apparated them over to the office on the mainland. From there the couple headed outside and began heading to a nearby wizarding village that Draco recommended they visit.

As they walked to the village Hermione noticed that Draco didn't let go of her hand. In fact he barely let go of it all morning as the couple explored the village and visited the small museum that was located there. After a nice lunch in a small café, Draco and Hermione did a bit of shopping in a nearby market before Draco suggested they return to the island.

After a slow walk back to the island's office Hermione transported the pair directly back to her villa.

"What are our plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Hermione asked.

"I thought we could go down to the beach." Draco suggested. "You do have a private one after all."

"That's fine, but I want to change. And I'm guessing you do as well." She said, gesturing to his outfit. While Draco's outfit of a light blue shirt and grey trousers was perfect for wandering around the wizarding village it wasn't very practical for lounging on the beach.

"I've got that sorted." Draco grinned, pulling off his shirt and removing his trousers to reveal a pair of dark green shorts. "I'm now ready for the beach."

Hermione chuckled at how prepared Draco was. "I'll go and change, I'll meet you down there."

Leaving Draco to head down to the beach Hermione ran up to her bedroom and began rooting around for a bikini. Since she knew she was coming to somewhere she could get some sun she had packed plenty of bikinis so she had a choice. Choosing her skimpiest set, purple with white polka dots, Hermione changed into the two piece and threw a dark purple kaftan on top. After slipping into some flip-flops, Hermione headed downstairs to grab her bag before leaving the villa and heading down to the beach.

Hermione easily found Draco as he was the only person on the long stretch of golden sand. He'd spread out a couple of large beach towels and was lying on one as he waited for Hermione to arrive. As she approached the blond, Hermione couldn't help but admire his impressive physique.

"You're here." Draco said, turning his head as he heard Hermione approaching. "And you're covered up." He added, in displeasure.

Hermione giggled at Draco's obvious disappointment as she settled down on the towel beside him. "I'm sure over the course of the afternoon I can become uncovered."

"You can count on that." Draco grinned. "I have a lot of plans for you, and all of them involve you been distinctly uncovered."

Hermione blushed at Draco's words, causing the blond to laugh at her. After a few minutes they settled back onto their respective towels to soak up the sun. As it had been doing all day the conversation flowed easily between them and Hermione found herself enjoying Draco's company. The blond Slytherin was very easy to talk to and Hermione found they had a lot in common. After an hour of lying talking, Draco sprung to his feet and pulled Hermione up with him.

"Come on, let's go for a swim." He said, pulling Hermione towards the shimmering blue sea.

"Hold on." Hermione pulled out of Draco's grip and pulled off her kaftan, dropping it back onto her towel.

Draco smiled appreciatively at Hermione's skimpy bikini, but before he had a chance to admire her properly she had grabbed his hand and was pulling him towards the sea. Running into the sea the couple separated as they hit the warm water. Hermione lost track of Draco as they entered the water, but he quickly made his presence known by grabbing her from behind. Hermione wriggled out of Draco's grip as the couple splashed about and played around for a bit.

After about ten minutes in the water Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and dropped his lips to hers. Hermione eagerly responded to the kiss, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck and pressing her body against his. As Draco's tongue explored the warm cavern of her mouth his hands found the strings of her bikini top and unfastened them. Draco quickly divested Hermione of her top, causing them both to moan as her nipples rubbed against his bare chest.

As Draco's lips descended down Hermione's neck his fingers worked on unfastening the ties of her bikini bottoms. With a flick of his wrist he removed the bottoms and flung them away.

"Hey." Hermione protested as she saw the purple material go flying past her head. "I like this bikini."

"It'll not go anywhere. The water's charmed so nothing will get swept out to sea." Draco explained, briefly lifting his head from the crook of Hermione's neck. "We can summon it back after I've finished with you."

"And what are you going to do with me?" Hermione questioned, before moaning as one of Draco's hands cupped her breast.

"I thought I might make you scream my name again." Draco grinned. "I rather like hearing my name falling from your lips as you're writhing about in pleasure."

"You're rather egotistical, has anyone ever told you that?" Hermione retorted.

"No, they haven't. Although I suspect you're one of the only people that would dare tell me that." Draco replied. "But I think that's enough talking, it's time I made you scream."

Before Hermione could respond Draco's lips were on hers and he was pulling her even closer to him. Hermione let out a soft moan as she felt Draco's erection pressed against her and she instinctively wrapped one of her legs around his waist. Draco pulled Hermione's other leg around his waist and began heading back to the beach.

The second they emerged from the water Hermione felt exposed, she was after all completely naked. Draco seemed to sense Hermione's hesitancy and he kept her distracted with his lips. By the time they reached the beach towels and Draco put Hermione down, her shyness was slowly disappearing. There was still a part of her that wanted to cover up but the way Draco was looking at her, with such blatant desire, was enough to keep her from covering up.

Draco pulled Hermione down onto the towels and manoeuvred them so she was lying underneath him. Pulling back he let his grey eyes wander over her body before bending his head and taking one of her breasts in his mouth. Hermione moaned at the sensation as she tangled one of her hands into Draco's now wet hair.

When Draco's mouth left her breast and began trailing down her stomach Hermione felt a wave of apprehension sweep through her. Oral sex was something she had very little experience in and she wasn't sure how to react as Draco's head got closer to her heated centre. The one time Ron had ventured down there he had poked about a bit before announcing he found it odd and he couldn't continue. Hermione knew some men refused to perform oral sex so she had just accepted that it would be something she didn't get to experience.

"Relax, Hermione." Draco said, noticing the tension in his lover's body.

Looking up he gave Hermione a reassuring grin before dipping his head to explore her most intimate area. Hermione gasped as she felt Draco's tongue thoroughly exploring her lower body. When his fingers joined in the exploration Hermione lost herself to the sensations Draco was creating. Lying on the towel she moaned and whimpered as Draco touched and teased her, building up to her orgasm.

"Oh god, Draco." Hermione moaned as her climax approached. "Draco!"

Draco smirked as Hermione screamed out his name as her climax hit. While Hermione recovered, Draco moved back up beside her and lay watching her. She looked so beautiful, sprawled naked in the sun recovering from the pleasure he had just given her. Slowly her eyes flitted open and he found himself lost in Hermione's warm brown eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked, feeling self-conscious at the way Draco was studying her.

Draco suspected that Hermione wouldn't be comfortable if he told her how beautiful she was. Even after such a short amount of time together Draco had realised that Hermione was pretty low on self-esteem when it came to her looks. Clearly Weasley hadn't showered his fiancée with compliments and as a result Hermione had no idea how stunning she really was.

"I was just thinking for a woman who's supposed to be on her honeymoon, you're pretty reserved." Draco answered, voicing the other thought in his head.

"Is that bad?" Hermione questioned, wondering if she wasn't good enough for Draco.

"No, it's not bad, it's just unusual." Draco reassured Hermione. "You're a really good lover and you're amazingly responsive, but there's this slight timidity about you. Almost as if a lot of what we're doing is new to you."

"It is." Hermione admitted quietly. "Ron and I were never very adventurous in the bedroom."

Draco looked noticeably shocked before he composed himself and asked another questioned. "What about outside of the bedroom?"

"Nothing ever happened outside of the bedroom." Hermione whispered. "Our sex life was pretty mundane."

"How is that possible?" Draco frowned. "You're so passionate, how on earth did Weasley not explore your wild side?"

"What makes you think I have a wild side?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you're lying on a beach completely naked and last night showed you know how to have fun. I suspect there's a hidden sex goddess in you and I intend to bring it out before we go home."

Hermione laughed at the ridiculous thought she could be some sort of sex goddess. "I really don't think I'm that wild. I'm just a normal witch, looking for a bit of passion in her life."

Draco grinned, before rolling over and pinning Hermione underneath me. "I can give you passion. I can also show you a whole new world of fun, if you'll let me."

"I'll let you." Hermione replied. "Until I leave, I'm all yours. You can do whatever you like with me."

"I intend to." Draco smirked, before connecting their lips yet again as the passion between them continued to bubble.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next few days Hermione did exactly what she'd promised and put herself entirely in Draco's hands. Draco also kept his promise and showed Hermione a whole new world of sexual fun. Every day brought a new experience for Hermione and she was loving every second of it. The couple had tried numerous new positions, at least they were new to Hermione, and they had also christened every room in the villa.

With each passing day Hermione's confidence also began to grow, although there was still a slight shyness that just wouldn't disappear. Hermione had been worried that she would never be totally confident in her own skin, but Draco reassured her that her shyness and modesty were part of her character and didn't affect the more confident person she was becoming.

With the couple spending most of their time exploring Hermione's villa and each other they had little time for the outside world. So when Draco had briefly popped over to the hotel, Hermione used the opportunity to catch up with the papers. Every morning a paper had been delivered with breakfast, but Draco refused to let her look at them.

Settling down in the front room of the villa Hermione curled up with the papers and caught up on events back home. As she had expected her failed wedding was still heavily featured in the gossip section. Also since she wasn't around to be talked about directly the papers focused their energies on reporting about Ron and his new romance with Lavender. Despite knowing it would only hurt her, Hermione couldn't help but devour every article about her ex-fiancé.

So far Ron had refused to speak to the press about both Hermione and Lavender, so all the reports were just guessing what was going on. From what Hermione could see however Ron's new relationship seemed to be going great. Every picture of the couple showed Ron looking at Lavender in a way he had never looked at Hermione, with desire. Hermione knew that Ron had loved her, but he had never once looked at her as though he really desired her.

Putting down the papers, Hermione got up and wandered over to the window. Looking out at the beach, she thought about Ron and the situation they were in. In all honesty Hermione didn't resent him for his relationship with Lavender, after all she'd moved on quickly enough and dived straight into a passionate fling with their childhood enemy. What Hermione did resent was the way Ron had handled things, he should have acted long before they were due to be married, not waited until their wedding day to leave her for Lavender.

Hermione was so caught up in her thoughts about Ron that she failed to hear Draco returning. She only became aware of the blond's presence when he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and brushing his lips against the side of her neck.

"You're back." Hermione smiled, feeling instantly happier the moment she was in his arms.

"I'm back." Draco confirmed. "And I've got something different planned for this afternoon."

"Different, how?" Hermione questioned, turning round and looking up at Draco nervously.

"Different as in we've never tried it before." Draco replied. "Don't worry, I won't make you do anything you're not comfortable with. If you don't want to do this, just say and we can stop at any time."

Hermione nodded, knowing Draco would never force her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. With everything they'd done he constantly checked she was okay and wanted to continue, he'd never once pushed her into anything.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded again and smiled up at her lover. "Lead the way."

Grabbing onto Hermione's hand Draco led her to the bedroom, which was filled with floating candles. On the bedside table sat a champagne bottle, two glasses and a covered tray.

"What's under the cover on the tray?" Hermione questioned, her curiosity immediately piqued by the hidden tray.

"Dessert." Draco answered. "But we're not ready for that just yet. I've got something else for us to try first."

"What?"

Draco smirked as he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a dark green silk blindfold and several matching scarfs. His smirk grew even wider when Hermione's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in surprise.

"We don't have to if you don't want." He reassured his shocked lover. "I just thought it might be fun."

"I'm willing to try." Hermione said, recovering from her shock. "I'm guessing the point is you lose a couple of your senses and your others are heightened."

"Exactly." Draco nodded. "You'll be able to feel what I'm doing to you, but you'll not be able to see or move."

"I'll try it on one condition." Hermione said, sounding a lot more confident once she had gotten over the shock of the blindfold.

"Name it." Draco replied.

"I'm not the only one who gets blindfolded and tied to the bed. You take your turn of being the submissive one."

Draco was momentarily shocked by Hermione's condition, but the more he thought about it the more he liked it. The idea of being completely at Hermione's mercy was an intriguing one and he was interested to see what she would do with him.

"You've got yourself a deal." Draco grinned. "Now who's going first?"

"I'm not actually sure what to do." Hermione admitted.

Draco chuckled softly as he walked back over to Hermione and wrapped her in his arms. "Why don't we start by getting you undressed. As I've mentioned before, I'm rather fond of seeing you naked."

Hermione blushed at Draco's words, but she didn't object when the blond unzipped her white and blue sundress and pushed it off her shoulders. Wriggling out of the dress completely, Hermione was left standing in her light blue strapless bra and matching knickers. When she went to unfasten her bra Draco stopped her.

"Leave it on for now. I'll take it off you later."

Hermione obeyed Draco and left her underwear on as he led her to the bed and told her to get comfortable. Once she was settled in the centre of the large bed Draco gently grabbed her wrists and began tying them to the wooden posts of the bed.

"It's not too tight is it?" Draco asked. He'd deliberately left the bindings loose enough so that Hermione could pull free from them if she desired.

"No, it's fine." Hermione said. "But it is pretty loose, I could pull free from these easily."

"That's the point." Draco explained. "If you're not comfortable at any time you can free yourself."

Hermione nodded and smiled gratefully at Draco. "Are you going to blindfold me now?"

Draco nodded as he produced the blindfold and proceeded to slip it over Hermione's eyes. "Is it okay?" He asked, once it was in place.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded, the anticipation already building in her body.

"Good." Draco purred in Hermione's ear. "Now all you have to do is lie there and enjoy yourself."

"That's easier said than done, when I don't know what you're going to do." Hermione murmured, feeling Draco get off the bed.

Draco chuckled and after a few minutes of rustling clothes, Hermione felt the bed beside her dip and she felt Draco's presence at her side.

"Not knowing what I'm going to do is part of the fun." Draco remarked, stroking the side of Hermione's face with his finger. "It heightens the anticipation."

Hermione nodded, but any response caught in her throat as Draco's fingers slowly began trailing tantalising down her body. Draco's touch was feather light and his fingers seemed to skim over her skin, never touching her with the firm hand she had come to expect from the blond. Draco's teasing seemed to continue for a long time, but Hermione was thoroughly enjoying herself. Without her ability to see every tiny brush of his fingers against her skin felt magnified and she felt every single touch.

Slowly Draco's touches became more like the gentle but firm caresses she was growing used to, a couple of times Hermione felt Draco's breath ghost over her skin and a few times she felt his lips brush softly against her skin. When Draco's lips brushed over her bra covered chest, Hermione moaned and automatically arched up into his touch. Draco quickly took advantage of Hermione's movement and unclipped her bra, although he didn't fully remove the lacy material. Instead he teased and tormented Hermione until she was writhing on the bed, and begging him for more.

"Please Draco." Hermione moaned. "I need you to touch me."

Draco smirked down at Hermione before whipping her bra off and dipping her head to her breasts. Hermione let out a series of whimpering noises as Draco lavished attention on her breasts. When Draco began kissing his way down her body, Hermione had to fight the urge to remove her hands from the scarves and bury them in his soft hair. The urge to release her hands got even stronger once Draco reached her lower half and his movements stilled. Hermione could feel his breath over her still covered centre, but he seemed in no hurry to remove the remainder of her clothing.

"Draco." Hermione pleaded, bucking her hips towards Draco.

"That's my name." Draco replied with a smirk.

"Ugh, you're so annoying." Hermione huffed.

"You'll not be saying that when I give you a screaming orgasm." Draco chuckled.

Hermione couldn't help but blushing at Draco's words, despite the fact that they merely got her more aroused. Draco laughed again and Hermione was relieved that he finally hooked his fingers in her underwear and began to slowly pull them down her legs.

"Just you wait until I've got you tied up." Hermione muttered. "I'm going to make you suffer so much for all this teasing."

"Teasing's all part of the fun." Draco responded, flicking his tongue against Hermione's inner thigh.

"I'll remember that." Hermione gasped as Draco finally touched her where she was begging for attention.

Thoughts of making Draco suffer left Hermione's head as she lost herself in Draco's touch. Like he had been all afternoon Draco teased Hermione, working her up into a frenzy. Eventually Draco gave Hermione what she wanted and when her climax hit it was the most powerful one she had ever experienced.

"That was amazing." Hermione sighed as she began to recover.

"Told you it would be worth it." Draco replied, removing the blindfold from Hermione and untying the scarves around her wrists.

"You were right, it was." Hermione said, smiling at Draco who was now clad only in his boxers. "I've really enjoyed it."

"I'm pleased, I just hope you enjoy what else I've got planned for the afternoon."

"There's more?"

Draco nodded and grinned at Hermione, before reaching over to the bedside table and picking up the covered tray. Placing the tray on the bed he whipped off the cover, revealing a platter of fresh fruit and a bowl of whipped cream.

"Mmm, dessert." Hermione smiled, looking at the array of fruit on offer. "Why would you think I might not like this? I love fruit."

"I know, but I intend to eat it a bit differently." Draco replied, picking up a strawberry and dipping it into the cream.

When he turned to her with the fruit still in his hand Hermione thought he was going to feed it to her. Just as she was about to open her mouth Draco grinned at her, before swirling the strawberry around her nipple, leaving a trail of cream on her breast. Before Hermione could react Draco popped the strawberry in her mouth and dipped his head to her chest, licking off the cream in a tantalising way.

"This is much more fun than just eating straight from the plate." Draco said. "I'd much rather eat from you."

"We're going to get messy." Hermione pointed out as Draco picked up a second piece of fruit and used it to smear cream over her other breast.

"We can have a shower after." Draco replied unconcerned, as he licked the second bit of cream off his lover's chest.

When Draco's hand reached for a third piece of fruit Hermione battered his hand away and picked up a piece herself. Dipping the pineapple finger into the cream she turned to Draco with a timid smile.

"This is going to work both ways. If you eat off me, I eat off you."

Draco grinned and leant back against the pillows. "Be my guest." He said, gesturing to his body.

Hermione used the pineapple to smear cream over Draco's chest, before dipping her head and slowly licking it off. Grinning up at Draco she quickly got a second piece of fruit as she settled down to enjoy eating fruit and cream in an entirely new way.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few days passed in pretty much the same vein. Hermione and Draco spent nearly all their time together, either exploring the mainland, making use of the hotel's numerous facilities and most of all continuing their passion filled fling. The couple also spent a lot of time talking and they were increasingly finding they had much in common and they always had plenty to talk about.

Before they knew it Hermione's departure was looming in front of them, although neither of them brought it up. On the night before Hermione's last full day on the island the couple decided to go over to the hotel for dinner. Draco briefly went to his room to change, but he quickly returned and the couple headed over to the hotel together.

Instead of heading straight into the restaurant to eat the couple headed into the bar for a drink. In the bar they spotted Blaise flirting with a guest and the instant he spotted them, Draco's best friend made a beeline for the couple.

"Draco, I was beginning to think you'd gone home without saying goodbye." Blaise grinned. "Although I can't blame you for spending all your time with this enchanting witch. You look lovely Hermione."

"Thanks." Hermione answered, smiling at Blaise's not so subtle flirting.

"Don't worry Blaise, I'll say goodbye before I leave." Draco reassured his friend as they ordered drinks and settled themselves at a secluded table in the corner of the bar.

"When will that be?" Blaise asked. "Hermione leaves in a few days, will that spell the end of your holiday as well?"

"I don't know." Draco shrugged.

"I could always arrange for the pair of you to stay on a bit longer." Blaise suggested. "As it happens the villa Hermione is staying in isn't booked out again for another week."

"It's a nice gesture Blaise, but I need to go home." Hermione replied. "I'm due back at work a few days after I arrive home and I need to start looking for somewhere to live."

"Don't you have somewhere to live?" Blaise frowned.

"I used to live with Ron. Needless to say I don't want to return there. I packed up my belongings before I left and they're waiting for me in storage." Hermione answered.

"Maybe Draco could help you out." Blaise suggested with a sly smile. "He has plenty of contacts, he could find you a flat in no time. Or he does live alone in a massive penthouse, I'm sure there's space for you there."

"Blaise, that's enough." Draco snarled at his friend. Him and Hermione were getting along great and the last thing he wanted was his best friend ruining their last few days together.

"Sorry, I was just making a suggestion." Blaise shrugged. He knew Draco would just let Hermione walk away when her holiday was over so he was hoping his suggestion might at least set the pair thinking about their potential as a real couple.

Blaise's suggestion had given both Hermione and Draco something to think about and once they left Blaise in the bar to go and have dinner, it was a pretty quiet affair. The normal laid back relaxed atmosphere that surrounded them had disappeared as both of them tried to silently figure out what they wanted from one another. As their minds were otherwise engaged their conversation was subdued and half hearted.

After dinner the couple decided to head back to Hermione's villa, much to her relief. Since Blaise's suggestion things had been weird and she half expected Draco to say he was spending the night in his own room. Luckily that didn't happen and the couple walked back to Hermione's villa with their hands intertwined.

"Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" Hermione suggested when they got back to the villa.

"Sure." Draco nodded, letting Hermione lead the way onto the private strip of sand.

Hermione briefly stopped at the edge of the beach to pull off her shoes, before continuing onto the golden sand. The couple walked for about ten minutes before they stopped and settled down on the sand, watching the darkened waters.

"Do you think we need to clear the air?" Hermione asked. "I don't want things to get awkward between us."

"Neither do I." Draco admitted, mentally cursing his best friend.

"Where do we start?" Hermione turned so she was facing Draco. She'd discovered she could read him pretty well when they talked face to face but when she wasn't looking directly at him she was never sure if he meant what he said.

"I guess I can start by admitting that Blaise is right. I can help you find somewhere to live, if you want."

"I would appreciate that." Hermione smiled.

"He's also right in the fact I have a huge penthouse, that's more than big enough for two. I have a spare room if you want it." Draco told Hermione, gauging her reaction carefully.

Hermione felt a wave of disappointment flood her when Draco mentioned the spare room. She had no idea what she expected to happen between them once their holiday was over but an invitation to move into his spare room hadn't been a consideration.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." She said quietly. Mainly she didn't think it was a good idea because she didn't want to be so close to him but not able to touch him.

"Oh, okay." Draco replied, staring out at the sea as he dealt with the brush off.

"I think before I decide on living arrangements, we need to talk further." Hermione clarified, noticing Draco looked disappointed by her earlier words.

"What about?" Draco asked, turning back to face Hermione.

"Us." Hermione replied. "We need to decide what happens once we leave here."

"That is entirely up to you, Hermione. You're the one who's just come out of a serious relationship. I'm not going to push you into anything." Draco explained.

"Would you like to keep seeing me when we go home?" Hermione asked, wondering if once they were back in the real world that she wouldn't appeal to Draco.

"I would love to." Draco replied honestly. "But I'd completely understand if this was a fun fling for you to get your mind off your problems. No matter what, I would like to remain friends."

"I really don't think we could make friends work." Hermione chuckled.

"Why not?" Draco frowned. While he was more than happy to continue sleeping with Hermione, he could have lived with just being friends of it was what she wanted, but seemingly it wasn't.

"I'm not attracted to my friends." Hermione replied. "When I go out with them I don't fantasise about them, but with you I would. Every time we met up I'd be thinking about this last week and everything naughty thing we've done together. It would only be a matter of time before we ended up back in bed."

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing to me." Draco smirked.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be, but it would make things awfully confusing." Hermione replied. "To be honest I would rather we agreed to see what happens back home or we end it before we leave and we're both left with a beautiful memory."

"Which one would you rather do?"

Hermione sighed deeply and this time it was her turn to look out towards the sea. "I don't know."

"There's no rush." Draco said, even though he was convinced that she was going to go with the second option.

"This is so complicated." Hermione moaned, flopping back onto the sand and turning her attention to the night sky. "This last week has been the most amazing experience of my life and I don't want it to end. But I can't ignore the fact that just over a week ago I was planning on marrying Ron. I don't know if it's too soon to be entering into a new relationship, I could just end up hurting us both."

"No-one says we have to move quickly, we can take this as slow as you want." Draco told Hermione. Until tonight he'd had no idea how attached he'd become to the brunette witch, and now he knew he didn't want to lose her. "We can keep in touch when we go home and we can move as slowly as you want. I actually travel quite a bit, so I'm not around that much anyway."

"I thought you travelled to get away from your life back home." Hermione said, sitting back up and scrutinizing Draco. "You told me earlier this week that you don't need to travel very much at all."

Draco looked at Hermione in surprise, he hadn't expected her to remember such a trivial detail in one of their earlier conversations. "You're right." He admitted. "But if it makes things easier for me to travel, I can."

"What do you want from this, Draco?" Hermione asked. "One minute you're offering me your spare room, the next you're offering to travel to give me space. What do you want to do?"

"Honestly, I want to do whatever it takes to see if we have something." Draco replied quietly. "I've never connected with anyone the way I have with you, and I want to explore that and see if we have a future together. But as I said earlier, I'm not pushing you into anything. I will go along with whatever you want to do."

Hermione smiled at Draco, pleasantly surprised that he was putting so much consideration into how she felt and what she wanted. The problem was what she wanted was a relationship with Draco or at the very least a chance to see if they could have a future together. However, her rational side was telling her it was too soon to move on, a fling was one thing but jumping into a relationship with someone else was very different.

"I think I want to explore a possible relationship." Hermione said, deciding to ignore her rational side and go with her heart. "But I warn you, this will be slow going. I don't want to hurt either of us by jumping into a rebound relationship."

"As I said we can go as slow as you want." Draco grinned, feeling positively giddy at the news that Hermione wanted to give them a chance.

"And will you still help me find somewhere to live?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Draco nodded. "And the offer of my spare room is still on the table. After all it might take us a while to find somewhere suitable for you to live."

"So if I was to temporarily move in with you, I would be in the spare room." Hermione clarified.

"I said you could have the spare room, I didn't say you had to sleep in it." Draco smirked. "If you want it, the room's yours. It will be your private space and if you want to sleep there every night, I'll not bother you. However if you wish to keep me company in my bed, I won't complain."

"I'm not sure if that constitutes taking things slow." Hermione mused. "But I have to admit the idea has its merits."

Hermione liked the idea of having her own space, but she also liked the idea of having Draco so close. She'd grown used to having the blond around and if she was honest with herself she hadn't been looking forward to not seeing him every day.

"We can still take things slow if you're in the penthouse." Draco said, breaking into Hermione's thoughts. "You'd still have your space and I'd still have mine, but we can spend as much or as little time together as we want."

"I think I'm going to take you up on your offer." Hermione said. "But only temporarily, until I find a place of my own."

"That's fine. But we can discuss this later on, right now I can think of much more fun things we can be doing." Draco grinned at Hermione, letting his eyes blatantly wander across her body.

"Like what?" Hermione teased with a grin.

"Preferably anything that involves you being stark naked and writhing in ecstasy." Draco responded.

"I'm up for that." Hermione declared as she stood up and pulled Draco to his feet. "Come on, I fancy a nice relaxing soak in the Jacuzzi."

Grabbing hold of Hermione's hand Draco set off running back to the villa, where the couple happily stripped off and jumped into the Jacuzzi.


	8. Chapter 8

The last full day of Hermione's holiday flew past and before she knew it, she was packing to leave. On the morning of her departure Draco had left her alone to pack, while he went and packed his own bags. The pair were then going to meet up in the lobby of the hotel before returning to England together.

Hermione was still slightly unsure if she was doing the right thing by temporarily moving in with Draco. She knew finding a flat would take a while and she would rather not have to live in a hotel until then, but living with Draco might not be the wisest decision. It had taken her a long time to find the flat she had shared with Ron and she wasn't planning on just jumping into moving in to the first flat she saw, she wanted her new place to be somewhere she could call home for the foreseeable future. However, living with Draco might not mean they took things as slowly as she intended, not to mention the gossip that would inevitably occur once people discovered where she was living.

Brushing her doubts aside Hermione continued her packing and once she was finished a house elf appeared and whisked her cases away. She then double checked she had everything before walking over to the hotel to meet Draco. By the time she arrived at the hotel Hermione had decided not to worry about her living situation, if things didn't work out living with Draco she could always stay in a hotel until she found somewhere of her own. One thing she did know was that she wasn't going to let the gossips stop her at least trying to see if she and Draco had a future together.

"Hermione!" Blaise greeted Hermione with a warm smile when she entered the lobby of the hotel. "I guess it's time for you to leave."

"Yes, it is." Hermione answered. "But I've had a lovely time. This place is amazing Blaise, and I'm sure I'll be coming back."

"I'm sure you will." Blaise smirked. "Draco is a regular visitor after all."

"How does that affect me?" Hermione questioned.

"Well you are going to live with him, are you not? And judging from the way you've been with each other for the last week, I'd not be the slightest bit surprised if you returned together."

"It's still early days, Blaise." Hermione told Draco's best friend. "Draco and I might not work out."

"Maybe, but I've never seen Draco as into anyone as he's so obviously into you." Blaise retorted. "Personally I think the pair of you have a real shot of happiness."

"I hope so." Hermione admitted quietly, just as Draco entered the lobby.

Hermione watched as Draco said goodbye to Blaise, before his friend disappeared off to carry on running the hotel. Once Blaise had left Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and the pair of them apparated over to the hotel's office on the mainland. After handing back the wristbands and checking out properly, Draco and Hermione grabbed their waiting bags and headed for the floo network. Hermione was going to floo back to Draco's house, where she would send an owl to Harry just to let him know she was safe. Hermione wasn't sure if Harry or anyone would be awaiting her return, but just in case she didn't want to cause her friends any unnecessary alarm.

Draco gave Hermione the address of his penthouse before they travelled. Draco took all the luggage and went through the floo first so he could change the wards on the floo in his penthouse to allow Hermione entry. Hermione waited a few minutes, before entering the emerald flames and disappearing back to London.

When she stepped out of the floo, Hermione found herself in the massive front room of Draco's penthouse. The room was decorated in black and white and Hermione decided the décor was very impersonal and most likely professionally done. Looking around she couldn't see any trace of Draco's personality in the room, in fact she couldn't see any trace of Draco at all. The room looked like a show room and not the sort of room that was lived in.

"I'll show you around." Draco said, banishing the bags with a flick of his wand.

Leaving the front room, Draco showed Hermione a large kitchen and adjoined dining room. Like the front room they were immaculately decorated, but again they lacked any sort of personality. The first sign that Draco even lived in the penthouse didn't materialize until he showed her his study. The room was warm and cosy, with bookshelves lining the walls and several picture frames dotted around the room.

"I'm guessing this is where you spend the majority of your time." Hermione said.

"Is it that obvious?" Draco asked.

"This is the first room I've seen with any sort of personality in it." Hermione explained.

"This room and the bedroom are the only two rooms I had any say in. The rest of the penthouse was decorated by an interior designer." Draco replied as they left the study and headed to the spare room.

The spare room was larger than Hermione's old bedroom and was beautifully decorated in various shades of purple and cream. Hermione instantly liked the room and she knew she would be more than comfortable in the room. The room had a large en-suite bathroom and Hermione was eager to try out the sunken tub.

"Do you want to see my room?" Draco questioned.

Hermione nodded, interested in seeing what Draco's bedroom was like. Draco led the way a few steps towards his own large bedroom. The bedroom was the largest room in the house, after the front room, and Hermione instantly liked it. The room was decorated in deep blue and the large window let sunlight stream into the large room.

Hermione's eyes fell on Draco's large four poster bed, and she began imagining the fun they could have between the sheets. The style of the bed immediately reminded her of the bondage fun they had indulged in during on the island and she could only imagine how much more fun a four poster bed could be. Hermione had actually enjoyed the experience, but she'd discovered that Draco wasn't as keen on surrendering his control. A bit of playing around had revealed that Draco could handle either been tied up or been blindfolded, but he didn't like both together. If he couldn't see Hermione he liked to be able to touch her, and when he couldn't touch her he liked to be able to see her. Hermione hadn't minded just using one method of restraint on Draco, she liked having him been able to touch her but she also liked having him looking at her with his expressive grey eyes.

"Do you like it?" Draco asked, moving behind Hermione and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm sure we can have a lot of fun in that bed."

"I'm sure we can." Hermione smiled, tilting her head as Draco's lips brushed over her neck.

As she tilted her head Hermione spotted a full length mirror in the corner and it ignited fresh memories in her. One of their early sexual explorations had taken place in front of a mirror in the villa that was very similar in style to the one in Draco's room. When Draco had realised just how shy Hermione was, he had summoned the mirror to the room and promised to show her how beautiful she really was.

Standing them in front of the mirror Draco had slowly undressed Hermione, taking care to caress every inch of her skin and tell her how stunning she was. Once Hermione was naked, Draco had also undressed and he proceeded to take her right in front of the mirror, where she could watch every single thing he was doing to her. The whole experience had been surprisingly arousing and Hermione blushed lightly at the memory of watching her and Draco together.

"We can do that again, if you want." Draco commented, following Hermione's eye line and spotting where she was looking. "I must admit I rather liked watching us together."

"So did I." Hermione admitted quietly. "It was surprisingly hot."

"It was." Draco agreed. "And as much as I'm looking forward to doing it again, right now I'm hungry. Why don't we go and sort some lunch and talk about getting your stuff. I want you to feel at home here."

"I'm sure I will." Hermione replied, deciding it was too soon to admit she already felt at home with Draco. "And I also need to write to Harry, I don't want anyone worrying that I haven't returned from Italy."

"I'll get you some parchment, and we can use my owl." Draco said as the couple left Draco's bedroom.

After Draco gave Hermione some parchment and she wrote a letter to Harry, the couple settled down to have some lunch. Over lunch they began making plans for Hermione to get her stuff out of storage and settle in properly, as well as discussing what sort of flat Hermione was looking for. Once they had finished eating they got ready and Hermione took Draco to the storage facility she was using to store her belongings.

"You don't have much." Draco commented, looking at the cases and boxes that were packed in the small room.

"I kind of left in a hurry." Hermione shrugged. "I took my clothes and all my personal effects, but nothing else. I suppose I really should see about getting my share of the furniture, I'll need some of it in my new place."

"You can worry about that later." Draco said. "For now you don't need furniture. Let's just grab your things and head back to mine, where we can make you feel comfortable."

Hermione spent a while gathering what she wanted, she left several boxes in storage as she knew she wouldn't need everything immediately. If she had left something she later wanted it would be easy enough for her to return and pick it up. Once she had everything she and Draco split the load, before heading back to his penthouse.

"Do you want it all in your room?" Draco asked.

"Where else would I put it?" Hermione questioned, already heading towards the spare room Draco had kindly loaned her.

"Wherever you want." Draco replied, following Hermione. "Feel free to make yourself at home throughout the place, you don't need to confine yourself to this room."

"I don't think I brought anything that needs to be somewhere other than this room." Hermione said as he began magically unpacking her clothes. "But I do have a few nice bits and pieces that might make your front room looked lived in."

"We can go and get them if you want." Draco suggested, liking the idea of having Hermione's things all over his penthouse rather than just been in one room.

"Maybe another time." Hermione said. "This is going to take all afternoon to sort, and I don't really fancy another trip out."

"Okay, we can get them another time." Draco said. "But we could get this done quicker, if I helped."

"Those two boxes are full of books." Hermione said, pointing at the two largest boxes that they had brought back. "You could unpack those if you want."

Draco nodded and moved to unpack the books. Despite using magic he took his time to make sure the books were lined up neatly on the shelves and were in some semblance of order. He also used the opportunity to browse through Hermione's tastes in books, which ranged from fiction to factual. While there was a good selection of muggle books that he'd clearly not read he found he'd read a good handful of the wizarding books Hermione owned.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and before long all of Hermione's things were neatly displayed around the room. Even with only a few boxes of belongings unpacked Hermione felt more at home in the room, even though she wasn't planning on sleeping in the room much.

"Thank you." Hermione said, smiling at Draco once she'd surveyed the room. "Both for the room and for helping me settle in."

"Anytime." Draco replied. "Are you hungry? I thought we could go out for something to eat."

"I'd love that." Hermione said, before suddenly grinning widely. "How would you feel about an adventure?"

"I guess it depends on the adventure." Draco replied warily.

"I was thinking I would take you to the muggle world for the evening. We could have something to eat and find something to do." Hermione said. "Then I was thinking we could try out your big bed when we come home."

"I'm up for adventure." Draco nodded. Visiting the muggle world was pretty daunting, but if it made Hermione happy he was willing to broaden his horizons. "And I'm definitely up for having you in my bed."

Hermione smiled at Draco and gave him a quick kiss before sending him off to get changed. Hermione also got changed, pulling on a skimpy set of underwear and a skin-tight red dress that she'd never worn. The dress had been bought on a shopping trip with Ginny and the redhead had badgered her into it, but until now Hermione had never felt confident enough to wear the revealing garment. Now however she oozed confidence as she got ready and went to meet Draco in the front room, she knew she looked good and she also knew that in Draco she had a man who would appreciate it.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione had a few days to settle into Draco's penthouse before it was time for her to return to work. She hadn't however slept in the spare room as she had so far spent every night in Draco's bed. Hermione and Draco had also made sure they christened every room in the penthouse and there now wasn't a single room in the penthouse where the couple hadn't had sex.

The day Hermione was going back to work was also the day Draco had chosen to return to work. Hermione told him he could have returned to work sooner, but he had insisted on waiting until Hermione was settled in and ready to return to work herself. Hermione had been touched by the gesture and she'd actually really enjoyed having Draco around as she settled in and they got to know each other even better.

"Are you all ready?" Draco asked as they had breakfast together.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Hermione sighed. "I don't like being talked about and somehow I suspect I'll be the subject of all the gossip today."

"Surely people will have found something else to talk about by now." Draco replied.

"Maybe they have, but my presence will stir up the gossips again." Hermione said.

"What about Weasley? Will you see him today?" Draco asked, knowing the redhead also worked at the Ministry.

"I don't know." Hermione shrugged, sounding a lot less stressed about the potential meeting than she really was. "I suppose it all depends if my work brings my into contact with the Auror Department today. But I will have to deal with him eventually, so maybe it would be better to do it sooner rather than later."

"What happens if you can't cope with working with him?"

"I'm sure we can avoid working together as much as possible, but no matter how difficult it gets I'm not letting him drive me out of my job. I've worked too hard to let a break-up screw up my career."

Draco contemplated reminding Hermione her split with Ron had been much more than a mere break-up, but he decided against it. She was clearly stressed enough as it was without him unintentionally stirring things up.

"We've got to be going, but if you need me feel free to owl me or floo my office." Draco said as the pair left the kitchen together and began getting ready to leave.

"Thanks." Hermione smiled, even though she had no intention of running to Draco if her day became difficult to cope with. Considering they were supposed to be taking things slow running to him for support on her first day back at work wouldn't be appropriate.

After gathering their things the pair parted ways and flooed to their respective work places. The second Hermione entered the Ministry she felt the people in the atrium watching her curiously and whispering to each other as she strode towards the elevators. Ignoring the gossiping that surrounded her, Hermione boarded the lift and headed to her office in the legal department.

Arriving at her office she found her secretary, Kate, waiting for her with a list of things to run over and a cup of steaming hot coffee. Accepting the coffee of her secretary the pair went into Hermione's office, where Kate brought her up to date on what she had missed. Once Kate had left, Hermione looked around the room and realised Ron's presence was very much in evidence in her office. Sitting on her desk was a picture of her and Ron just after their engagement and on her bookshelves there were several more pictures of her with Ron and their other friends.

Hermione briskly gathered up the pictures, including the group ones as even in those it was obvious her and Ron were a couple. With all the pictures of Ron in her hands she opened her bottom drawer of her desk to shove them out of sight. As she was placing the photos in the drawer she spotted a new name plate for her desk, a name plate that had been a gift from the girls in the department just before her wedding. Gingerly Hermione picked up the name plate and stared at it, the name Hermione Weasley embossed boldly on the piece of wood that was supposed to be standing on her desk right now.

Ten minutes later Hermione was still holding the nameplate, and thinking about everything that had happened over the last few weeks, when there was a knock on the door. Throwing the nameplate in the bottom drawer Hermione slammed it shut and shouted for whoever had knocked to enter. When the door opened she smiled widely as Harry poked his head round the door.

"Can I come in?" He asked. "I don't want to disturb you, if you're working."

"It's fine, I haven't really gotten started yet." Hermione said, standing up as Harry entered the room.

Walking over to her desk Harry embraced Hermione and the two friends hugged for a few minutes. "So how are you?" He asked as they separated and Hermione returned to her seat behind the desk.

"I'm fine." Hermione answered. "I had a nice relaxing holiday and now I'm back and ready to move on."

"Move on from Ron?" Harry asked. "Or move on with Ron?"

"I told you before I left, Ron and I are over." Hermione said to her friend. "Besides isn't Ron with Lavender now?"

"You know about that?" Harry's eyes widened and he looked at Hermione in shock. He hadn't expected that Hermione would be up to date with the latest gossip.

"Yes, I know." Hermione nodded.

"He ended things with Lavender, you know." Harry said, still not ready to give up on his two best friends sorting out their differences. "He realised he'd made a massive mistake and he's finished things."

"I don't care, Harry. Ron dumped me on our wedding day, I can't forgive him for that. Lavender or not, we're over."

"Please think about this Hermione." Harry pleaded. "You were going to marry him, you can't throw everything you had away for one little mistake. You need to give Ron a chance to explain and make things right."

"He can't make things right." Hermione snorted. "He humiliated me, he broke my heart and abandoned me on our wedding day. That can't be fixed Harry, and even if it could I don't want it to be."

"You don't want to be with Ron anymore?" Harry questioned in disbelief. "But he's all you've ever wanted."

"Actually he wasn't all I ever wanted. Yes, I wanted to be with Ron but I also wanted a lot of things that Ron couldn't or wouldn't give me." Hermione explained. "In the end I decided Ron was enough and I didn't need these other things, but things are different now. Ron left me so I've decided to go after the other things I want in life."

"And what are those other things?" Harry asked, wondering if Hermione had been dissatisfied with her life before the wedding.

"Passion, adventure, travel. Mind blowing sex." Hermione responded, smiling as she realised that Draco offered all of those things and much more.

Harry looked at Hermione closely, realising she was the most vibrant he'd had seen her in a long time. She looked nothing like a woman who had just had her world shattered, she looked like a woman who had discovered a new zest for life. All in all Harry decided she looked happier than he had seen her in years.

"Then I hope you find what you're looking for." Harry told his friend with a smile. "And if Ron isn't it, then so be it."

"Thanks Harry." Hermione was slightly taken aback by Harry's support, but she smiled warmly at her friend as he got up to leave.

Once Harry had left Hermione settled down to work and in no time it was like she hadn't even been away. With a few things stacking up while she was away Hermione decided to have lunch at her desk and carry on working. After quickly heading down to the canteen to grab a sandwich and a coffee she returned to her office and was just settling back down to work when another knock on the door disturbed her.

"Come in." She called, not looking up from her paperwork as the door opened and a figure approached her desk.

"Can we talk?" Ron's voice caused Hermione to whip her head up. Standing in front of her was the last person she wanted to see.

"I guess so." Hermione sighed, putting her quill down and sitting back in her seat. "Take a seat."

"I don't know where to start." Ron admitted as he sat down opposite Hermione's desk.

"How about with how long you'd been cheating on me for." Hermione suggested, bitterness lacing her voice. Despite not wanting Ron back she was still hurt he had been cheating on her.

Ron looked momentarily shocked before quickly regaining his composure. "I wasn't cheating."

"Don't lie to me, Ron." Hermione snarled. "If you want to talk, try being honest. I know you were cheating, so just admit it and we can talk."

Ron sighed and for a while Hermione thought he was going to carry on denying his affair, but when a look of resignation descended on his features she knew she was about to get the truth.

"About eight months."

Hermione blinked in surprise at the timings, she and Ron had been engaged for eight months. He'd been cheating throughout their engagement, she just wasn't sure if he was cheating before he asked her to marry him or if it started just after he'd proposed.

"Before or after you proposed?" She asked.

"After." Ron admitted quietly. "About a week after we got engaged I started to wonder if I was doing the right thing. I went to the pub and got drunk, Lavender was there and things just happened."

"Why didn't you call it off then? Yes I would have been hurt, but it would have been better than letting things go so far."

"Because that night with Lavender proved I wanted to marry you. All I wanted Lavender for was sex, I wanted a life with you. I still do." Ron replied.

"If you wanted a life with me, why carry on seeing her?" Hermione asked. "Why sleep with her when you were planning on marrying me?"

Ron paused for several minutes, before taking a deep breath. "Sex. It was all about sex. Lavender gave me something you couldn't."

"What?" Hermione whispered. "What could she give you that I couldn't?"

"Passion." Ron answered. "Don't get me wrong Hermione, I love you and you're really pretty but you lack sex appeal. You're timid and shy in the bedroom and in all honesty I was afraid to try anything different with you, you would have just freaked out and being repulsed."

"Unless it was something extremely kinky you were asking me to do, then no, I wouldn't have." Hermione replied, her anger simmering under the surface. "I tried to ignite some more passion in our sex lives, but you weren't interested."

"That's not true." Ron snorted. "I was dying for you to show some initiative, but you just lay there and let me do all the work. Hell, you wouldn't even give me a blowjob."

"I did not just lie there." Hermione seethed, thinking of all the times she had tried to get Ron to try a different position but he refused. "And I did give you blowjobs, I just stopped doing so when you refused to return to favour."

"I don't like giving oral sex, it's odd." Ron protested. "But if that's what it takes to get you back, I'll learn to do it."

"Oral sex is not going to win me back." Hermione told Ron, amazed he believed he could win her back at all. "Nor is trying to spice up our sex life. Clearly you don't find me sexually attractive, and we can't change that. I don't want to be with someone who sees me as the shy bookworm I was when I was a teenager. I want to be with someone who sees me as an attractive woman, a woman they desire and want to take to bed."

"There's more to life than sex." Ron said, looking at Hermione as though she was a stranger. The Hermione he knew would never talk about sex in such an open and frank way. "You need more than sex to build a marriage."

"You do." Hermione agreed. "But I don't want to be stuck in a passionless marriage. You and I would never have worked Ron, the fact you were cheating before we even got married was proof of that. If you'd really loved me you never would have strayed, I would have been enough for you. Even if you do find me sexually unappealing."

"I don't find you sexually unappealing." Ron argued.

"But you don't think of me as sexy, do you?" Hermione shot back.

Ron studied Hermione for a while as he decided if he should lie to her, deciding it was better to be honest he reluctantly shook his head. "Sorry. Maybe it's because we were friends for so long. But I do love you."

"And I love you." Hermione replied with a sad smile. "But I'm not in love with you, and I don't think I ever have been."

Ron nodded dejectedly as he stood to leave, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. "Goodbye Hermione."

"Wait Ron, there's something I need to know." Hermione called, stopping her ex as he was about to leave her office. "Why did you call off the wedding? You said you only wanted Lavender for sex and you're here now trying to win me back, so why didn't you show up at the chapel?"

"I was an idiot." Ron sighed, turning back to face Hermione. "I let my insecurities get the better of me. I kept telling myself you deserved better than me, I mean I couldn't even pay for a decent honeymoon."

"Are you seriously telling me you failed to show up for the wedding, because I paid for the honeymoon?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Partly." Ron admitted. "But I reckoned it would only escalate. First of all you pay for an expensive honeymoon and before I know it you're paying for things I can't afford. I don't want my wife supporting me."

"How long had you been feeling that way?" Hermione asked.

"A while." Ron sighed. "Ever since it became clear you've got a lot more money than me."

"I'm sorry you felt like that, but I'm not going to apologise for having a good job. Or for having an inheritance from my grandparents." Hermione replied.

"You shouldn't have to apologise for having a successful career and money in the bank." Ron said. "I just couldn't deal with it, it was my problem not yours. I shouldn't have let it affect our wedding."

"It would have only been an issue later on." Hermione shrugged. "A lot of things would have been. We did the right thing not getting married, you just did the wrong thing in leaving it so late to call it off."

"No, Hermione, I did the wrong thing in not turning up." Ron said. "I've lost the woman I love and I won't stop until I get you back."

"Ron, that's not going to happen." Hermione protested. "I've moved on. I don't want you back."

"You will." Ron said confidently. "I promise Hermione, I'm going to fix this. We will get our happy ending."

Hermione was too stunned to speak as Ron turned round and left the office. She thought she'd been getting through to him and making him see they weren't meant to be but he'd suddenly done a U-turn and was back to believing they had a future together. Hermione was absolutely bewildered by Ron's actions, how he could claim to find her sexually unattractive and admit to cheating only to end the conversation by vowing to win her back was a mystery to her. Hermione just hoped that his last vow had been bravado and when he had time to reflect he would realise they were over.

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**A/N – I just want to reply to a guest reviewer who left three reviews asking for a story where Hermione is Pansy's twin. As it happens, I have a story like that planned and I've already written the first half dozen chapters. It is a long story and a few other stories I'm writing have priority, but it will be happening some time. **


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione was still mulling over her strange meeting with Ron when she headed home. Draco wasn't in when she arrived but she wasn't expecting him until later as he'd already warned her that he would probably be late home the first day back as he caught up on what was happening. With Draco not home Hermione decided to have a nice relaxing bath before he returned.

As she had a relaxing soak Hermione's mind once again returned to Ron. It was only just occurring to her that he'd hadn't apologised for what he'd done, in fact he hadn't even checked she was okay or where she was living. All they had really talked about was Lavender and the reasons he was cheating, they hadn't mentioned anything more significant. The more she thought about the conversation the more Hermione realised that they would have to have a proper talk soon. Firstly they had to discuss the flat, Hermione owned half of the place and they would either have to sell it or Ron would have to buy her half.

By the time Hermione got out of the bath and changed into a pair of tight blue jeans and an amethyst vest top, Ron was well and truly forgotten. She knew she still had to deal with her ex, but right now she was focused on a certain blond that would be arriving home soon.

Heading into the kitchen Hermione began preparing some dinner. Hermione had discovered the kitchen was magical, the cupboards were enchanted to fill up with whatever food you required and all the appliances were compatible with magic and would make things perfectly. By the time Draco arrived home Hermione was just lifting a lasagne out of the oven.

"That smells great." Draco said, hovering in the doorway.

"I can't take any credit. Your kitchen is pretty amazing, I didn't have to do much." Hermione said.

"It comes in handy when you can't cook." Draco replied. "Without this kitchen I don't think I could even make a simple meal."

"I'll have to show you some time." Hermione smiled. "I can teach you a few things."

"I'll look forward to it." Draco smirked. "I'll just go and change, I'll be back in a minute."

While Draco went and changed Hermione dished out the meal and when he returned they settled down to eat. As they ate they talked about work and what they had been up to. Hermione left out the meeting with Ron in the rundown of her day but once the couple were settled in the front room with a glass of wine Draco asked if she had seen her ex.

"Yes, he stopped by." Hermione answered, not wanting to lie about seeing Ron. Even though it was early days with Draco she knew lying wouldn't be a good way to build a solid foundation for a relationship.

"How was it?" Draco asked, scrutinising Hermione closely as he checked she was okay.

"Strange." Hermione replied, her mind turning back to her conversation with Ron.

"How was it strange?" Draco questioned.

"First of all he didn't apologise and we didn't discuss anything significant." Hermione answered. "We talked about Lavender and the reason he cheated and he seemed to be accepting we didn't work. But then I asked about why he didn't show up at the wedding and he mentioned a pile of stuff about me having more money than him, before announcing he was going to win me back."

"Okay, that does sound strange." Draco agreed. "But you found out why he was cheating on you?"

"Yeah, basically it was all about sex." Hermione replied. "At least that's what he said, but I've seen the pictures in the papers of the pair of them and I thought they looked pretty serious."

"Maybe his family are pressuring him to win you back." Draco suggested. "Weasley hasn't emerged from this looking very good and the newspapers are all over him at the minute, winning you back would be the right way to start winning back the good press."

"Winning me back, isn't an option." Hermione stated confidentially. "And even if it had been, this afternoon would have blown any chances he ever had of making things right."

"Why? What did he do?" Draco questioned.

"It wasn't what he did, it was what he said." Hermione sighed, wondering if she should mention Ron's reasons for straying.

"What did he say?"

Hermione paused for a minute, before deciding to tell Draco everything. "He told me why he cheated. Apparently I lack passion and sex appeal, not to mention I'm timid and shy in the bedroom."

Draco was momentarily stunned, before shaking his head and gathering his thoughts. "Okay, I admit when we first began this you were timid and shy in the bedroom but you've never lacked passion or sex appeal. From the first time I touched you I could sense how passionate you were, you just needed someone to give you some confidence. If Weasley couldn't see that, then he's a bigger idiot than I took him for."

"Maybe he was right, though." Hermione sighed. "With you I'm more confident and passionate, but Ron never got that sort of response from me. He never turned me on the way you do."

"Maybe he wasn't trying hard enough." Draco argued, unwilling to let Hermione believe Ron's infidelity was in any way her fault. "If he really wanted you, he would have taken the time to explore your body and know exactly what it takes to turn you on. Maybe Weasley just couldn't see past the person you were when you were younger."

"I suggested that to him." Hermione smiled at the fact she and Draco were on the same wave length. "I told him he couldn't see past my shy bookworm past."

"More fool him." Draco snorted. "If he honestly looked at you and saw the bookworm you were back in school then he's blind. You're a gorgeous and sexy woman, and that has nothing to do with the confidence you've gained these last few weeks. The second you walked into the bar of the hotel that first night, you were the most stunning witch in the room."

"I'm sure I wasn't." Hermione mumbled, feeling her cheeks heating with the compliment.

"You were." Draco said softly, gently cupping Hermione's face and running his thumb over her cheek. "And the most appealing thing about you, is that you have no idea just how beautiful you really are."

Hermione smiled shyly as she looked up into Draco's eyes. She knew he was telling the complete truth and that to him, she truly was beautiful. As they stared at each other Hermione realised that Ron had never once looked at her like Draco was doing, like she was the most precious thing in his world.

"I think we should stop talking about Ron." Hermione whispered. "He's in the past, and I don't want to dwell on the past."

"Even though he's trying to win you back?" Draco asked.

"He can't win me back, I've moved on." Hermione replied.

"Good." Draco nodded. "Although just so you know, I would have fought for you."

"You don't have to fight for me, I'm right here." Hermione said, moving so her lips were inches away from Draco's. "And here is where I intend on staying."

Draco smiled briefly before closing the small gap between him and Hermione and connecting their lips. Thoughts of Ron disappeared from the minds of both Hermione and Draco as they lost themselves in the kiss. One kiss quickly led to more and before long hands were wandering and clothing was being shed.

The clothes quickly built up beside the large white sofa and before long Hermione was lying naked under Draco. Slipping Draco's boxers down his legs, so he was also completely naked, Hermione wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer to her.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear as he gently slid inside her.

"I haven't done anything yet." Draco chuckled, making Hermione whimper softly as he adjusted himself so he was buried even deeper inside the brunette witch.

"I was thanking you for Italy." Hermione said. "Thank you for giving me the best honeymoon ever."

* * *

**Three Years Later.**

"Draco!"

Hermione's scream of pleasure echoed around the large bedroom as the witch convulsed in ecstasy. She was currently experiencing her second orgasm in as many minutes. Her first one had barely faded when Draco began building her up to a second more powerful one.

"Hermione!" Draco cried, following the witch into ecstasy and collapsing against her.

"That was possibly our best time yet." Hermione gasped, once she'd recovered her power of speech.

"I think we can do better." Draco replied, rolling over so he wasn't lying on Hermione.

"Really?" Hermione questioned, snuggling into the blond.

"Really, and we've got a fortnight to achieve it." Draco said, wrapping his arm around Hermione and dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"Only a fortnight?" Hermione questioned, looking up at Draco. "Why only a fortnight?"

"Because Mrs Malfoy, our honeymoon lasts a fortnight." Draco grinned. "And I intend on giving you the best honeymoon ever. I want to knock your last one, into second place."

Hermione frowned for a minute, before she remembered the night she had told Draco her honeymoon in Italy had been the best honeymoon ever. At the time their relationship had only just begun, but clearly it was something he had taken to heart.

"I already know our honeymoon will be the best ever." Hermione said.

"And why's that?" Draco asked. "We haven't even set off yet."

"Because I'm with you." Hermione replied seriously. "Last time I spent the first few days crying in my villa, until I met you and good things began to happen. This time you'll be with me the entire time and there'll be no crying. But most importantly of all, I'm going there as your wife and leaving as your wife. Therefore it is already the best honeymoon ever, as it's to celebrate our marriage."

The couple had gotten married earlier that day in a romantic ceremony, held at Blaise's hotel. The couple had booked the whole island for the wedding and paid for all their friends and family to stay for the weekend. Tomorrow they were jetting off to another private island, this time in the Caribbean, but for their wedding night they were back in the villa where it all began for them.

The past three years had flown over for the couple and they found it hard to believe it had been so long since they started their relationship. Despite Hermione's insistence on taking things slow their relationship had progressed fairly swiftly. Within a few months of returning from Italy Hermione had stopped hunting for a flat and had accepted that she lived with Draco. When they had decided to make it official Hermione had moved her things into Draco's room and set about re-decorating the penthouse and it now looked and felt as though people actually lived there.

Hermione had been pleased when everyone accepted her relationship with Draco and no-one accused her of moving on too fast. Ron had even congratulated her and wished her well as they dealt with the sale of their flat. As it turned out Draco had been right and his attempt to try and win Hermione back was a result of orders from Molly, who demanded he fixed things with Hermione. When it became clear Hermione wasn't taking Ron back he gave up and went back to Lavender, which was where he had wanted to be all along. Molly hadn't been impressed with her son's choice but Ron was determined it was Lavender he loved so Molly eventually had to accept his choice.

As she lay in her new husband's arms, Hermione smiled to herself. Three years ago she'd thought her life was over when Ron left her on their wedding day, as it turned out her life was just beginning. Without her disastrous first wedding she never would have re-met Draco and they would never have gotten together. As it turned out being jilted by Ron was the best thing to ever happen to her.

**The End.**

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**A/N – I'm sure a few people were hoping for more drama with Ron, but this story was always about Hermione and Draco's relationship and how it began. **

**As always I want to thank every single person who took the time to read this story. I especially appreciate everyone was favourited/followed or left a review. **


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